Returning Home
by jimthefox
Summary: Sonic, Shadow, Tails, and May try to get back to Earth and stop Eggman's rule. Will they get back and save the world, or will Eggman finally have the upper hand. Read and review please. This story is sequal to The Tails Chronicles.
1. Ch 1 Wake up call

Disclaimer: I do not own any SEGA characters mentioned in this fic.(or id be rich) All these characters belong to SonicTeam. All other chars belong to me, Jimthefox.

**This story is a sequel to The Tails Chronicles. If U haven't read it, do so before reading this story. I thank all who have reviewed my first story. It was very helpful and enjoyable.**

**Tails: Have you even come up with a title yet?**

**Jimthefox: UH...you just shut up fox boy...I'm thinking.**

**Tails: How about, Tails the Hero of Elements.**

**Jimthefox: No...This story isn't focused on you anymore, It's on how you get home. Uh...**

**May: I know, Foxes in Love.**

**Jimthefox: Augh, no...that sounds sick.**

**Shadow: Your pathetic, I'd call it The Ultimate Journey.**

**Jimthefox: That's it, IVE GOT THE TITLE...It is, Returning Home, Short. Simple. and to the point. And your not getting credit for the title.**

**Returning Home **

Ch 1: Wake up Call

It is nice sunny day on a war torn island. There are many small towns on the island, they used to hold many refugees, but that was up until last night. Today everything is different. There are many people on the streets having a celebration. You can hear cheering and many fireworks. Even the soldiers are relaxing. These people aren't human though, they mainly consist of hedgehogs and kitsunes, even some echidnas. Even from the destroyed castle on the highest hill on the island, you can hear some faint cheering and partying.

"Uh..." Said a small yellow-orange kitsune. He just woke up from a long sleep. He gets up and walks over to a destroyed wall in the large room he is in. The room is used as a hospital room, but since the destruction of the castle it is just used as living space. The orange fox looked in a puddle of clear water in a small crater from the destroyed wall. His reflection is perfect in the still puddle. His face is dirty. He has sky-blue eyes and big fox ears. They are pointed and slightly rounded at the end. He has three curved hair clumps on his forehead. The white fur of his muzzle is anything but white. It is all brown and grey from the rubble. His short orange fur is also grey and muddy looking. He grabs one of his tails, yes he has two tails, and he looks it over. He cups his hands into the water and splashes some water on his face. It helps somewhat, but he wont get clean unless he takes a bath. "Man, I need a shower."

"Hmm...Tails...your awake..." Said a cute female voice. She is a kitsune as well. She has light blue fur and long reddish-brown hair. Her fur and hair are grey and muddy a little. Tails is much more dirty than she is. She is just sitting in her bed with the sheets up to her armpits. She is hiding the fact that she has no shirt on at the moment. She is just looking at Tails with loving eyes. She doesn't want to say anything else because she is just listening to the distant parties and bird chirps. Looking over to her left, there is another person sleeping two beds away from her. He is a blue hedgehog with three long spines showing. The spines are spread out on the pillow. There are a pair of red shoes on the end of his bed. They have a white stripe going across the middle. Each stripe goes to a golden buckle on the grey soles. The girl fox looks over to the foot of her bed and sees a ragged pink cloth with small holes burnt into it. It isn't an ordinary cloth though. It's a bio-engineered tech-cloth. It enhances the users body 50 times than normal people. "My cloth is ruined. And I have nothing to wear. I can't run around naked."

Suddenly the door opens and someone approaches Tails. "Quit your complaining, at least your alive, little girl." He is a black hedgehog. His spines are curved upward, except for the 2 middle ones and the 2 that are on his back. He has red streaks of fur on his head spines and the backs of his arms and legs. He is wearing two gloves with a red tongue and black sock-like cuffs. Each glove has a golden ring around the tongue in front of the black cuffs. He also wears two hover skates/shoes. They are red, black, white, and yellow. The tops look just like the glove cuffs. He has a tuft of white fur on his chest.

"My name is May, ok Shadow. And get out of here I have no shirt on!" May grabs her pillow and throws it at Shadow's head. But realizing this was the wrong thing to do, she hid under her sheets.

"You better hide, or else I will drag you out there and take your sheet away." Shadow turns back to face Tails.

Tails yawns. "It's too early for this guys. What do ya want shadow?"

"Well, I need to go somewhere for a while, I'll be back in a few days."

"Ok, but where are you going?"

"Err...You know when we talked in the Tornado3 that one time. Yeah her." Shadow was walking and heard May giggling. And saying stuff like 'oohh, shadow has a girlfriend' under her sheets. He just ran out of the door.

"Ok, why don't you wear the tech cloth?" Tails threw it at her. "Im sure it has a healing function." Tails walks over to her and pokes her.

"Hey, that was my butt. Well, it's ok with me. Just leave the room so I can change." May is about to remove the sheet. Tails flew out of the broken down wall. May comes out of the sheets. "Ok, tech-cloth heal." The tech-cloth started mending its burns and holes until it was fully repaired. May touches it and it wraps around her body again. Only her legs, arms, head, and tails are exposed now. "Tails, you can come back now."

"Coming, I was just bathing in the river." Tails was soaking wet, but his fur was bright and clean. "If you want to bath in the river, just climb out that destroyed wall and turn right and head straight into the woods."

"Thanks, but I just got dressed, and besides there might be a place we can stay in one of the towns. Then I'll take a hot shower-" May stopped suddenly and looked at Sonic. His eyes are moving, like hes about to wake up. Tails runs over to Sonic. May just stays there with one hand up to her mouth, watching.

"Augh...Uh..." His eyes slowly open. And looks around. "T-tails...where am...I..." He tries to lift his head but fails.

"SONIC!...Your okay." Tails looks at him for a moment.

"Wait...where's Eggman? Why am I in a bed? Who's that?" Sonic is kind of freaking out.

"All right, here's the truth. It's really bad, but you have to know. If you remember, we were going to fight Eggman on the Ark. He had this machine and teleported us to another planet." Tails gets interrupted.

"Oh...yeah, I remember that. So what happened, you just found me or something." Sonic looked confused.

"Let me finish, Sonic you were possessed by a demon during the warp. After I fell to the ground I had no idea what happened to you." After about an hour Tails had finished the long story.(i really didn't want to type that out) "And, that's it."

"Thanks Tails, you saved me from that thing. Your a real hero now."

"I only did what I thought was right. But I couldn't have done it without May or Shadow." Tails got up and walked towards May and walked her over to Sonic. "Sonic, this is my friend May."

"Nice to meet you, Sonic. Hey, Tails I'm your girlfriend, not just friend." May looks at him with an annoyed expression. Tails blushes.

"Oops. Yeah..heheh..I forgot to mention that, ever since we met I started to love her." Tails is blushing more.

"You don't need to be embarrassed. It's cool. At least your brave enough to admit it." Sonic looks down at the sheets.

"Sonic, I already know you like Amy." Sonic's eyes widen.

"What, how did you know! I never told you!" Sonic is looking at Tails shocked. Tails is laughing at him.

"Because, you just Told me." Sonic starts blushing now. "I learned that trick from Eggman." They just laugh the rest of the day away. Sonic is fully healed by the end of the day, and he's showing off his skills. "Show off!"

"Well, I am the best. I can do anythin-" There is a gurgling noise coming from Sonic's belly. "Man, I'm starving. Like I haven't ate in a month. What did Cinos do, become vegetarian. Hah."

"Sonic, I would recommend you not mentioning that name, the people on this world don't know who you were. They might want to kill you." warned Tails.

"Oh, right. I don't like being hunted down, not after going to prison twice."

"Uh...you went to prison?" May seemed nervous.

"Don't worry May, They were false accusations, Shadow did it." Sonic said too much again.

"Shadow did the crimes and blamed you? Oohh...I'm gonna hit him when he gets back!" May is angry.

"All Shadow did was steal a chaos emerald from a bank, and they assumed it was me. but he redeemed himself by saving the world with me, I made sure of it too. Man, I need some eats, fast." Sonic's stomach was growling even more.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know he was a hero also." May puts her head on Tail's lap.

"I'll get something to eat. I'll be back in the morning. You two have fun, heheh." Sonic ran out into the night.

"Hey, that's not right, Eww." Tails is really embarrassed now. He just layed back and fell asleep. The night is cool and soon May fell asleep also.


	2. Ch 2 Love of Two Hedgehogs

Ch 2: Love of Two Hedgehogs

The trees flew by like blurry black things. Jumping and dodging trees was Sonic. Nothing but a good run was all he needed to clear his head. '_I can't believe Eggman defeated us so easily, like in a few seconds...heheh... Tails sure is grown up, he saved me from a horrible fate. Well..since he has a girlfriend, I can tell Amy how I feel..._' Suddenly Sonic started slowing down and stopped. "I miss her, I sure hope she's ok. Oh no...Eggman is still at the earth..." A few tears ran down his cheek. "If Im not there to protect her...no...don't think like this Sonic...she is alive and the earth is safe, I mean Knuckles is there, along with Rouge." Sonic stopped and notices his stomach yet again. He sped off to the nearest town. There are all kinds of hedgehogs, foxes, and echidnas partying. The stores were all open and giving out food and drinks. The streets were crowded. As Sonic was looking at all the food he bumped into a drunk orange hedgehog.

"Hey...shoo ish in mha housh..." He fell over and started snoring. Sonic laughed a little. And pushed his way through the crowds. He made it to a large buffet table full of food. In an instant there was some food missing. He managed to grab a hotdog, some soda, and a few chicken legs. Sonic jumped onto a roof and sat there eating.

"Mffmfm...Oh yeah, that hit the spot, now for some dessert." Sonic ran right off the roof and over the street to another building. "Wow, this roof has a party too." There are people dancing, but there are three girls taking the spotlight. They are extremely pretty. Sonic is just staring at them. After the song ended one of the girls spotted Sonic. She was a hedgehog with purple spines going to her tail.

"Oh, your handsome. Would you like to dance with me?" Sonic was taken aback by this.

"Uh...s-s-sure." She grabbed Sonic's hand and led him to the dance floor. After about an hour Sonic was tired. He wasn't used to that much activity yet. "Im beat...you sure know how to dance."

"Im tired too, you sure kept up good. Here." She kissed him on the nose. And was going to do more, but Sonic stepped away from her.

"Look, Im sorry, but I only agreed to dance. I've already got someone in my heart. I'm really sorry. See ya." Sonic jumped off the roof and ran away blushing. Sonic sped off back to the castle and into the room. He noticed May was sleeping next to Tails. '_I should leave them be, I wonder what the rest of the castle looks like._' Sonic quietly walked into the room through the rubble. He exited through the door. The place was a mess, there was rubble in a lot of spots. Some minor repairs were being done. Walls were patched with metal plates. As Sonic went more towards the center of the castle. It looked more like a base of metal and technology. It was starting to look better than a castle.

"Halt, who are you?" Sonic slowly turned around to face a pure black hedgehog with green eyes. He is wearing battle armor. "Answer me, or else!"

"Here's my answer." Sonic ran right down the hall. "NO!" He yelled from down the hall. He turned the corner and bumped into another soldier.

"State your name and number, civilian." Sonic glared at him. He then smiled.

"My name is Sonic. And Im number one." The soldier was getting ticked off now. His green quills stood on end.

"Your coming with me, put your hands in the-what the! Where did you go!" He looked all around. Sonic came from behind him and tapped his shoulder. "Your under arrest!" Sonic then sped off down the hall yet again. "All soldiers, be on the lookout for a blue hedgehog." Than an alarm sounded. Down the corridor Sonic stopped in front of a yellow barrier. Than another barrier appeared behind him.

"What. No way this'll hold me, yahhhhh!" Sonic tried to kick the barrier down but failed. He was then shocked moderately. It sent him down to the ground, subduing him. "What...did...I...do?" Sonic then blacked out.

"Ok Shadow, you can befriend her first. That's why I didn't eat since the holy island." It was true that Shadows body didn't require food, but he had to test if this was Maria's true incarnate. He went up to the small house and crawled to the doorstep. He reached up and rang the doorbell. After a while the door opened, there stood a young blonde haired girl with blue eyes. She looked exactly like Maria, except for her clothes. She wore a blue Jean jacket open, showing a pink t-shirt and had a long skirt that was yellow. "Augh..." Shadow collapsed in front of her. He was faking but it looked real. Shadow was good at keeping his face straight and motionless.

"Oh my gosh, are you ok?" She looked down at the fallen hedgehog. "He's breathing, don't worry I'll help you." Maria's incarnate picked Shadow up and held him to her chest. She placed him into her bed and went to go sleep on the couch in her house. In the morning she was watching Shadow.

Shadow began stirring and slowly opened his eyes. "Where am I...who are you?"

"My name is Masako, are you all right?"

"Yeah...I think so. Wow, your house is nice." Shadow is looking around at the pretty flowery walls.

"Oh thank you, It is nice for just me living here." Masako looks at shadow and freezes.

"What, is it my face?" Shadow is confused.

"No, it's you...I've seen you in my dreams." Shadow also froze. He knows it really is her now. A tear runs down his cheek. "What's wrong, are you sad?"

"Lemme tell you something. Those dreams are real. Your are the reincarnate of someone named Maria." Shadow blurted this out.

"Wha-" Suddenly she falls to the ground. All the memories are coming back to her. Flashes of her first memories of Shadow, and the times they talked about the earth. Then when G.U.N. attacked and her sending Shadow down in a capsule. "Shadow..." She ran towards him and gave him a hug. "I missed you so much..."

"I missed you too...So much happened since then." They just hold eachother for a while not talking. "But we are together now...I can show you the Earth...It's just as you thought it was."

"Um...tell me how long...I was dead." She has worry in her eyes.

"Fifty years."

"Fif...ty. What happened in those years? Are you ok."

"Well, I was trapped in that capsule for those fifty years...G.U.N. had found it and kept me in it. But thanks to your cousin I was released."

"Ivo, he freed you? That's great. He's a hero!" Maria obviously doesn't know who he really is.

"That's the bad thing. He is an evil scientist, he freed me because I'm a weapon. I had intentions of revenge also, so I sided with him." Before Shadow could finish Maria slapped him.

"SHADOW, how could you...what about our promise!"

"I know, give them a chance to be happy. I didn't realize that until later. We used the eclipse cannon on the moon and destroyed half of it. That was only with six emeralds. When the seventh was placed, it caused the space colony to go on a collision course with the Earth." After a few minutes of talking Shadow was finished.

"Grandpa went insane after my death. That must be the same for Ivo. If only I didn't get shot, none of this would have happened. Im sorry Shadow."

"Don't be sorry, It's all over now and were together again. Well, I'd better get this off of me before I go mad."

"What, do you have to say?"

"Just before you sent me down to the earth, I didn't finish what I was saying. I...Love you, Maria I really do."

"You do, that's sweet, but we cant." Shadow was a little shocked.

"Of course we can, That's why i brought this." He pulled out a chaos emerald. One from the Tornado3. "These things do miracles. and I know how they work."


	3. Ch 3 Miracal Backfired

Ch 3: Miracle Backfired

Shadow held the green chaos emerald up high in his hand. "With this emerald, I will become human." Maria was shocked by this, she just sat there with her mouth open. "I ask of your power...Emerald. Grant me my wish...To Be With Maria Forever, Without BOUNDARIES! Chaos...CONTROL!" Suddenly the ground starts shaking just at this house. Then a flash of green light absorbed them both. The light was blinding, and was lasting for about ten minutes. Then it faded. Shadow looked at Maria with a dropped jaw.

"Shadow...Your wish didn't come true. I'm sorry...why are you looking at me like that?" Maria is really confused.

"L-l-look in a mirror..." Shadow is still shocked. Maria quickly gets up and sprinted into the bathroom. Then she screams. Maria is looking at herself. She was transformed into a hedgehog. It wasn't bad really. She is a golden-blonde color. Her spines are wavy and curl at the bottom slightly. They go down to her back. But one thing was wrong. Her clothes barely fit. She is smaller now. About 3 ft. tall. Her skirt is on the floor, along with her jacket. The only article of clothing left on her was her shirt. It covered her whole body pretty much. Only her toes showed at the bottom. Her hands only come out of the short sleeves.

"Shadow...I think your plan backfired. It's okay...I'm not mad at you. But I need some time in here to get dressed." Maria looks for something to put around her waist. She finds a lime green hair stretchy. "Eww...it'll have to do." Now her shirt looks sort of like a dress. Just before she leaves she sees her underwear on the floor. "Oh-no." She blushes a lot. She runs to her room and looks in her dresser. Maria finds pink polka-dot panties. "I haven't worn these since I was four. Oh well." She puts them on anyway. She runs over to her bed and climbs under it. She pulls out a metal box and goes to the living room to find Shadow on the couch waiting.

"Cute..." There was sarcasm in his voice and then he smiled.

"All my clothes are too big for me, so we are leaving town." Maria takes out 300 dollars from the box.

"I'm sure you can buy clothes in town."

"No, they will catch us." Maria has panic in her voice. "The PAAF will arrest us, and put us down."

"The what-" Shadow looked at her, puzzled.

"The PAAF, People Authority Against Furries. This country hates your-our kind and kills them. It's terrible...My parents tried protesting, but were arrested and sentenced to death." Maria was about to cry.

"No pathetic humans will catch us." Shadow goes to Maria's side and just sits there.

"Yes they can, I've seen them catch even stronger one than you. He was twice as fast as you, but was caught." Maria grabbed onto Shadow and cried.

"Maria..." Shadow put his arms around her. Just then there was a knock at the door. Shadow stupidly answered it.

"FURRY ALERT! HELP ME THE FURRIES ARE ATTACKING!" The human ran away screaming the same thing over and over. Shadow closed the door and ran to Maria.

"Oh-no...we are going to die." Maria closed her eyes, and cried more. "I love you Shadow..."

"Don't talk like that...I'm not letting you die again! Chaos Control!" Shadow grabbed Maria and carried her in his arms. He jumped out the window that was open. Outside there are a ton of policemen and robots surrounding the house. Shadow just jumped over one guy and ran all the way to the ocean and started running across it.

"Shadow...thanks." Maria put her arms around Shadow's neck to hold on. She gave him a small kiss on his cheek. They both blushed a little.

All over his body, Sonic felt like crap. He was in a holding cell. "Wh-where am I?" Sonic looked around the room he was in. Just some kind of computer room. He heard two people outside arguing.

"ARE YOU STUPID! Lemme see this blue hedgehog!" The voice was unfamiliar to Sonic. The door burst open and a red hedgehog came in. "I am greatly sorry for my soldiers actions. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Falcner, the rightful king of the Darlan Federation. I'll release you." He pushed a button on a computer console. The energy field vanished.

"Hey dude, thanks. I didn't know about the base. It wont happen again." Sonic was about to leave.

Wait, Sonic. are you sure your weren't yourself as Cinos?" Sonic suddenly stopped and turned around.

"I feel terrible for what happened, but I had no idea of what I had done, Tails told me all about it. Im guessing he also told you my name. Well, see ya." Sonic sped off through the halls. He came back in a second. "I don't know which way to get to the hospital wing. Heheh."

"Just turn left and you'll pass the energy walls where you were caught, don't worry about the soldiers, They've got orders to let you guys be here. But be warned, I don't want to catch any of you snooping around the base, we've go important stuff to do." With that, Sonic left again.

"I just need to think for a minute, May. Then we can snuggle. Okay?" Tails just made it worse. May began crying more.

"Tails, I thought you loved me." May is sad after what had happened. "You, didn't have to push me off the bed. You could've just asked me to stop."

"May, Im sorry. I didn't mean to push you off the bed, I just need some space for a minute. I'm just worried about my other friends back on earth...they are probably in trouble."

"Don't sweat it little bro, I could use chaos control. Right?" Sonic just stepped into the room.

"You cant do that Sonic, First, you are too weak. Second, you don't know where earth is to focus on it. Third, The energy might destroy you." Tails made some good points. Sonic sat down on the bed with Tails.

"Well, what are you planning?" Sonic was gonna leave this task to Tails. "I'm sure you can think of something, good night." Sonic layed back and was soon snoring.

"Hmm, Im gonna need to think about this for the rest of the day." Tails just sat there.

"You just forgot about me, didn't you! Well, you can think all day, cuz Im leaving!" After that outburst May ran outside and into the forest. With her tech-cloth she was gone in seconds.

"MAY, she's gone, I really need to think about her feelings more." Tails ran outside after her. It was sunny today also. It was about noon and the sun was high. "Where did she go." After an hour of looking he sat on a stump and looked at the river. "I messed up, now she might leave me. Why did I push her away, she was only hugging you. Her soft hands rubbing my belly. Her beautiful hair and body. Did I just say that?"

"I heard you, you said it. Im not mad at you anymore. You think Im beautiful, that's all I need." May sits behind him on the stump and puts her hands on his belly and starts rubbing.

"May...Im sor...eeee...your melting me..." Tails leans on her backwards. He seems to enjoy her rubbing his stomach, because his tails aren't even moving anymore. Tails is blushing also.

"Are you alright, Maria?" Shadow and Maria are on a beach. They made it back to the island where Shadow was before.

"I'm fine. Uh...where are we?" She looks around and sees a small city over the sand dunes. "Are we safe?"

"Were completely safe now. My allies are here. First I'll let you buy some clothes. Lets go." They both start walking towards the city. The parties must have stopped because the streets had only a few people walking them. The shops are open along the roads. Maria stops to look at some clothes. "I'll be a minute in here, you can go wherever if you want." Shadow just leans his back against the wall and crosses his arms, like he always does. There is something different about him now. He seems not as dark mooded as before.

"Hey Shadow look at me, please." Shadow opened his eyes and they widened slightly. She is really pretty now. She has a sky blue long sleeve shirt on. Her shoulders are showing through the top of it and it has a folded down piece of cloth around the top of the shirt. The sleeves are folded up nicely also. Maria has a navy blue bandana on her head. Its behind her ears and is wrapped around her spines and points backwards. She is wearing a pair of tight fitted jeans. The bottom of the legs are slightly looser. Maria chose to wear shoes instead of anything open(she doesn't like her paws). They are basic white tennishoes with blue laces. She also has two white gloves with two silver bracelets.

"Did you get underwear too?" Shadow is being sarcastic again.

"Maybe, I'm not telling, heehee." Maria trotted down the street with her hands behind her back. Shadow followed her around town for a while until it was three or so.

"Hey its getting late, we should go to the base. I'll take you." Shadow picks her up and jets back towards the castle. He sets her down outside the hospital room door. "Ok." They walk in and see Tails, May, and Sonic. "Uh...hi guys."

"Hey Shadow, long time no see. You must be lucky being alive and all. Uh...who's that?" Sonic pointed to Maria hiding in the doorway. He approached her. "Hi, Im Sonic the hedgehog. Hero extrordinare."

"I-Im...Maria rob-uh...Kintobor. Maria Kintobor. Nice to meet you." She bowed after this.

"Hi...I'm Miles Prower, but you can call me Tails." Tails shakes her hand. May comes up and shakes her hand also.

"I'm May Mizuki, nice to meet you, Maria." May sat back down on her bed.

"Wow Shadow, you have a lot of friends." Maria is still just standing there.

"Well...they...yeah." Shadow just sat on an empty bed. Maria sat next to him.

"Um...May, are you and Tails, dating?" Maria's question made them both blush. "Aww...That's so cute." Everyone seemed to like Maria a lot. The rest of the day seemed to fly by. They all shared their stories and are asleep. During that time Shadow looked at Sonic in a '_Im better than you cuz I have a girlfriend_' way. Tails had a tickle fight with May, but lost horribly. May and Maria gossiped a little about Tails and Shadow. All is silent now.


	4. Ch 4 Speed and Relaxation

Ch 4: Speed and Relaxation

"WHY NOT, you can think of anything fox boy, so why can't you think of a way home!" Shadow woke up really irritable this morning. "I want you to think of something now! Or I will hit you!" Shadow has his shoe in his hand. He has one shoe on and a sock.

"Shadow, don't be so hard on him. He just got done with a huge battle, can you blame him if he's a little tired!" Sonic stated.

"Shut it blue boy!" Shadow chucked his shoe at Sonic, but he caught it and tossed it out the newly made window. "Hey, that thing is not cheap."

"Then why did you throw it at me?" Sonic laughed.

"You want some of this?"

"Maybe I do!" They are now about to kill eachother.

"C'mon, hit me then!"

"Race you to the other side of the ocean!"

"Your on Sonic!" They both ran out the door. They were nothing but blurs to all they passed.

"Well, I guess we should wait til they get back. Aw what the heck...I'll think of a way home. I'll be right back." Tails gets up off the floor and walks into the hall.

"Tails? Were going to find another place to stay, in the town." Maria said. She picked up her shirt(that she now wears to bed) rolled it up and put the green scrunchie around it. She looked around to check if she had everything. Maria spotted the crystal sword. She heads towards it.

"Mariadontouchthat-" May stopped as she touched it. Nothing happened.

"Hmm? Were you saying something May?" Maria looked at her. May just fell over onto the floor. "Kids these days."

Tails had made it to Falcner's new throne room. It was totally different than before. This room is all high tech looking. The walls are black with light blue circuit lights running through them. The throne looks like a large ship control seat. "Hello Tails, I've been waiting for you. So what do you need?"

"Do you have any blueprints of an Intergalactic Spacecraft?" Tails is hoping he does.

"Sorry, The castle was robbed when Cinos was in power. Maybe your black and red friend knows. Well, Im sorry I couldn't help you. If you find those blueprints, your welcome to use the airbase to build it. Here's a six person pass." Falcner handed Tails a blue card. "Now I've got work to do, You can run along now."

"Ok, thanks. Um...One more thing. Where is my plane?"

"We put it in the hangar, you can just take it."Tails ran back to the hospital room.

"Oh that's right. Were going to stay at a hotel room." Tails wrote a sign on the door. "They'll know where to go now." Tails runs to the hall. He looks for signs. Tails spots a soldier. "Excuse me, where's the hangar?"

"Huh, oh. Take that hall all the way down and turn right. There is an elevator, take it all the way down and your there." The soldier continues down the hall. Tails runs past him and gets to the elevator. He pushes a button at the bottom entitled 'Hangar b4' on the panel, and the elevator opens. He gets in and goes down pretty fast. When it stops he runs out and sees a huge room. It's at least the size of the entire base above. There are jets of all kinds. At the very end of the room, the Tornado3 is parked in plane mode. "How'd that happen?" Tails shrugs it off and runs full speed, tails twirling, toward his plane. Tails jumps in and starts up the plane. He turns on the radio. "Tornado, requesting flight."

"Control here, your good to go." In the center of the room lights start flashing to indicate a runway. At the end of the runway a huge door opens. The opening is big enough for 5 Tornado3's to take off side by side at once. Behind the door is a waterfall, and it is splitting apart. Tails is now in position. He gains speed and goes down the runway. The twin jets kick in and is instantly at top speed. The nose lifts up and Tails flies out of the gaping doorway. He looks back and sees the waterfall only.

"That was awesome! Now to find that hotel." Tails gets close to a nearby town and transforms into car mode. "Ok. If I was on foot, I'd look for the nearest town. So the hotel is here somewhere." He drives down the street into town and stops at a phone booth. He gets the phone book and looks for hotels. "There's 20 hotels here!"

"Here we are, The Lucky Star hotel. Five dollars a night, that's good." Said Maria. She walks up to the lobby counter. "Excuse me, we'd like to rent a room for five people."

"Ok. That'll be twenty five a night." Said a purple fox woman. She is wearing a grey uniform.

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Here are your cards. Rooms 205 and 206. On the second floor." The lady hands Maria two door cards.

"Thank you." Maria and May head up to their rooms. They open the door to room 205. "This is nice, better than the hospital room."

"You know, how is Tails gonna find us?"

"Um...I'm not sure. He'll figure it out, he's a smart kid." Maria sat down on the edge of one bed. "But I don't know about Shadow, or Sonic. Wonder where they are?"

"Chaos..." Shadow and Sonic are racing on the ocean.

"Control!" Sonic cut Shadow off, and they both use the power.

"Grrr...I was supposed to win!"

"Well, I don't like cheaters. So this is fair. And don't look in front of you."

"Don't look in fr-" BAM. Shadow hits a boat and sinks it. He also falls into the water. His emerald flies up and Sonic catches it.

"Later..." Sonic speeds up, going supersonic speed. After a while he stops at an island. "Need to rest...here." Sonic sits on the sand. A few minutes pass and Shadow suddenly stops on the beach.

"You...pant...I hate you..." Shadow falls on the sand. Another hour passes and they are fully rested up.

"Ok...go!" Sonic and Shadow shoot off like comets. The world around them is blurry, they are going faster than before. At their peak speed of 700mph. At this speed, the only thing that they can see is ahead of them, and that is the next continent. They eventually can no longer see anything, the speed is just too intense for them to handle. In a few seconds they hit they beach. Instantly Sonic and Shadow try to stop. They put their feet forward and skid for a few hundred feet. Once they touch the grass they both trip and spin roll into the forest going through a few trees until they finally stop. Sonic is the first to uncurl himself. On the ground next to him Shadow uncurls also. "That...pants...was awesome...Shadow?"

"You surprise me...I didn't think you could keep up with my hovershoes..." Shadow gets up and looks around. "WHOA...check it out."

"Huh?" Sonic sits up and looks. "Wow...we crashed this far? I don't remember running this fast since I first found out about my speed."

"I am actually tired. I hate this feeling, makes me feel weak." Shadow could barely walk. Let alone stand.

"I can't even get up, haahaaha...my legs are mush...heh...that's funny, I can barely move." Sonic tries getting up and falls on his face. He laughs even harder. Shadow looks back and falls also.

"Geese, Im pathetic." Shadow laughs a little too. "Ultimate lifeform my ass. Hahahaa!"

"I guess we should wait until our strength comes back before we return to the castle." Sonic just layed on his stomach. It took twenty minutes for Sonic to recover. But Shadow recovered in two minutes. "Well, you really were created to take this endurance."

Back at the Red Star hotel, Tails finally finds May and Maria. "Wow, this elemental radar works good." Said Tails.

"I guess we should have gone back to the castle to write directions on the door." Maria lets Tails in the room. "Well, since your here, you can check out the other room. We have neighboring rooms. You, Shadow, and Sonic will share that one. May and I will have this one."

"Cool hotel. I gotta go park my plane. It's in car mode out front. I'll be back. Tomorrow we're going to look for some blueprints for a intergalactic space ship." Tails ran out the front door and down to the front of the building. After he parked the Tornado3, he put it in safety mode and took out the chaos emeralds from the trunk and the engine. "Wait, there's only six here. Oh yeah, Shadow has it. When they get back I'll tell them the plan." The Emeralds are in a metal suitcase with seven cutouts in foam on the inside. Tails went back into the girl's room. "Hey guys, err..girls, wanna see somethin' cool?"

"Ok, what do you have? Are you gonna do a cute trick? Heehee." May sits on the end of her bed and smiles at Tails. He opens the case.

"They're just the chaos emeralds, so." Maria blurted out.

"How did you know about the chaos emeralds?" Tails looked at her in puzzlement.

"I...um-Shadow told me about them." Maria lied quickly. '_Phew, that was close. They can't know Im related to Ivo(a.k.a. Eggman). It'd shock them._' She saw that Tails knew something, but was uncertain.

"Oh yeah, he probably told you already. Man, when are Sonic and Shadow gonna come back, Im bored. I mea-mmff" May kissed Tails on the mouth.

"Lets go to the hot-tub, just you and me. This'll be our date." She takes off her shirt, and her swimsuit is already on her.

"You had this planned out, didn't you?" Tails said with an annoyed look on his face. May noticed his face.

"Yup, It'll be fun, c'mon I know you want to. You've been working a lot, fighting bad guys, inventing stuff. Now it's my time to help."

"Ok, I'll race you there." Tails was about to run but he tripped on the floor. By the time he got up May had beaten him to the elevator. She was in the tub by the time Tails had made it downstairs. "I guess you win." Tails jumped in the water and splashed May. They played for a while and almost got in trouble by splashing someone, but they ducked under the water so he wouldn't see them. After a while Maria went down to the pool and decided to swim. She has a blue bikini on. She just swam by herself. Since it was eight at night anyway.

"You better be right about them being here, Shadow." Sonic just walked in the front door of the hotel. As they passed the window to the pool room, Shadow looked in and then tripped and fell on top of Sonic. "Shadow, what are-get...off!" Sonic kicked Shadow off of him.

"Sorry, I just tripped...yeah..." Shadow stood up and looked in the window. "Hey Sonic, they're right here."

"Wow, you were right after all...Maria's wearing a bikini, sweet!" Shadow stood there with red on his face.

"You wouldn't dare Sonic, she likes ME!"

"Chill Shad, I'm only kidding. C'mon, Lets join them. Wait, what am I saying, you join them...I'll just be go-" Shadow grabs Sonic by the leg and drags him in there.

"Hi Sonic!" Tails waved from the hot-tub. "Bye Sonic." Shadow carried Sonic to the deep end of the pool and held him over the edge.

"Now, are you going to apologize, or do you want to swim." Sonic was freaking out a little.

"You're not that mad, right? Shadow, my buddy ol' pal. You wont drop me, right?" But he was wrong, Shadow dunked him for a split second. "NO...Not the water, please, don't do it again."

"Um, Shadow...what are you doing?" Maria suddenly asked him. Shadow looks at her and drops Sonic.

"Nothing, he wanted to take a swim." Maria walks towards him and pushes him in the pool. She then jumps in. They start playing in the water (and totally forgetting about Sonic, who is splashing like a madman trying to stay afloat) and splashing eachother. "Hey Sonic, c'mere, so I can splash ya. Sonic? Um...Sonic...Hmm...he left." Sonic is on the bottom of the pool, climbing up the wall slowly. One hand grabs the top of the pool edge and he gets his head above the water.

"Oohh, I hate HACK COUGH water." Sonic is clinging to the pool wall.

"There he is Shadow." Maria swims over to Sonic and pulls him off the wall.

"No...I can't Swi-" It was too late she took him over to where they were playing. As soon as she let go of him, he sank. But Maria grabbed him and pushed him to the wall.

"Why didn't you say that you couldn't swim?" Surprised, she asked.

"It's Shadow's fault." Sonic sounded very weak.

"It's his fault you can't swim?"

"NO...It's his fault I'm in the water!" Sonic glared at Shadow. "He can't take a joke!"

"Um...what joke?" Maria had a confused look on her face.

"I...err...It's not important...really." Sonic is sweating now.

"I want to hear this joke."

"Yeah Sonic, tell us the joke." Stated Tails and May.

"Im sure we'd all like to hear it." Shadow has his arms crossed. Sonic climbed out of the pool.

"It's no big deal...All I said was 'Look, Maria's wearing a bikini, sweet!', and he got all mad, sheesh." They all stared at him. Maria then looked at Shadow angrily.

"Is that all this is about. Really Shadow, you need to lighten up a little." Sonic was trying to sneak away. "And you, Sonic, What did you mean by that remark?"

"Uh...I...meant it as a com-" POW. Maria smacked Sonic on the head.

"You perv! Boys are so immature! It's just swimwear, god!" With that Maria stormed off into her room.

"Girls are so annoying!" Sonic realized that was wrong to say. May gave Sonic the 'death glare'. Sonic was gone in a split-second. Everybody got out of the pool room, since it was past eleven and it was closed now. Tails and May were walking together. They were holding hands. Shadow followed silently thinking.

"Sonic can be childish at times. He's still a good guy though." Tails looked back at Shadow. "Um...Shadow, I...I found a way to...ge-get back home."

"You don't have to be scared, I just woke up really bad this morning. Well, what's your plan."

"I'll tell you in the morning, Im tired now. The room is up ahead. Yeah right here." Shadow proceeded to one of the doors. "No, not that one, that's the girls's room, this one is ours." Shadow entered the right room this time. He closed the door.

"Tails?" May looked at him with red cheeks.

"Yeah." May kissed Tails for a minute.

"Good night, I love you."

"Night then." Tails went into the room for the night.


	5. Ch 5 Plan in Motion

Ch 5: Plans in Motion

It was morning in the guy's hotel room. Sonic is half off the bed with his head touching the floor. Tails and Shadow are awake and talking at a small table.

"Well, your plan is great and all...but." Shadow has a concerned look on his face.

"What is it?"

"I'm the one that stole those plans, and I gave them to Zack. So we cant get them from kit isle."

"We have the Chaos emeralds now, you and Sonic are going there by chaos control. There's no reason to take me or the girls with you. It'll be safer that way. And If things get out of hand, come back."

"Ok...but If we don't come back, I'll haunt you for the rest of your life." Shadow is grinning.

"Good deal, then it's settled."

"What's settled?" Said a sleepy Sonic. "What are you planning now, Tails?"

"We are going somewhere to find some blueprints. Get an emerald and meet me next door." Shadow opens their side of the neighbor door. He knocks and Maria lets him in. Tails follows.

"Oh, they gotta say bye to their girlfriends. Wait, they left me in here!" Sonic grabs an emerald from the metal suitcase. Now two are out of it.

"Ok, that's the plan, any questions?" Tails tried to sound very important, in a fake deep voice. They all look at him weird. "Hehe...I get overexcited sometimes."

"I have one question." Maria raised her hand. "Are you gonna be okay, Shadow?"

"Whats that supposed to mean, I can take care of myself. You should be telling that to Sonic! I could do it myself."

"No way. Your not playing hero by yourself. Well, lets hurry up and go already."

"Ok...CHAOS-"

"-CONTROL!" In a flash of light, they were gone.

"I sure hope they'll be alright." Said Maria.

"They will be fine. They've faced more terrible things." Tails tried to sound comforting. "Well, onto business. May, can you go into town and pick me up a pound of beef and some buns? I need them for a meal I want to make."

"Ok, just give me some money." Maria handed May some money and she left.

"Now spill it!" Tails yelled after May was out of earshot.

"Spill what?" Maria looked confused.

"You know what I mean, Maria Robotnik!" After Tails said this she looked shocked.

"How did you know who I was? I...I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did, just now. And by your actions before. Ha...I knew it, this proves that spirits do exist. You followed Shadow to this world when he fell from ark, and stayed in the spirit realm. That is, until he finally met your physical incarnate. He triggered something in your spirit that caused you to go inside her body, taking it over. I still don't know why your incarnate is a hedgehog though." Tails was thinking some more.

"Shadow accidentally did this to me." Tails looked at her, dumbfounded.

"W-what...how?"

"Well...you see, he made a wish on a Chaos Emerald. He wanted for us to be together without boundaries. But it back fired and turned me into a hedgehog."

"I bet you were mad at him."

"Not really...It was either me, transforming into this..or him turning human. In fact...Im kinda happy." Maria blushed a little.

"You like him back?"

"I do...yeah. I always have...but we were different species back then, but now." Maria smiled.

"Now...I gotta wait for May to come back." Maria still looked worried. "Don't worry, I wont tell anybody that your a spirit on the inside. But I wonder how long you'll control that body. Usually until your spirit is complete, you can control it."

"Well, actually, I don't feel myself trying to control this body. Before I was transformed, I could hear the voice of the girl...It was like a bunch of whispers in my head. But I don't hear anything now, or have her memories either."

"These emeralds...I had no idea they had this kind of power. So many questions unanswered...where did they come from, who or what created them, and how much more power do they hide." Tails was in deep thought for a while. Suddenly he jumped up and hit the ceiling. It was Sonic, he tapped Tails' shoulder.

"I love doing that. Works every time."

"Sonic, your an idiot. Tails do you know what he tried to do back there." Shadow looked angry. "He wanted to touch one of the creatures. Even if you are in chaos control, you still have to breath."

"Dude, chill. It was **not** gonna kill me. I held my breath near it."

"You were about to breath when I saved you."

"You kicked me into a freaking wall! Some rescue you did!"

"I Should have let you breath and die there!"

"GUYS!" Tails yelled. Sonic and Shadow looked at him.

"WHAT!" They both said in unison.

"Did you get the damn plans!"

"Oh...um...here. They are in perfect condition. We found them in a metal desk at the ruined Rebel Force base." Shadow said calmly and handed the plans to Tails.

"Great...now it's time to get off this planet." Tails looks really happy.

"One problem, where are we gonna build it? And who's gonna build it?" Shadow, being the guy that ruins the fun.

"Well...Im gonna build it...by myself...with no help...IM SO STUPID! Where am I going to find people to help me with such a project. This ship is at least twenty times larger than this hotel!" Tails had his face in a pillow with muffled cursing coming from it. Shadow heard a small "thanks a lot Shadow", coming from him.

"What about the island of two tailed foxes we were at, there has got to be some survivors there."

"Whoa...there are more like Tails here!" Sonic shouted.

"Oh...I didn't tell you, I found out my parents were from here. But I was born on their space ship on our way to Earth. It exploded and I was in an escape ship." Tails looked really sad. "And...they died. I don't have a family to search for anymore."

"But you do have your friends, and May." Sonic put his hand on Tails' shoulder. "So what do ya say, lets build us a spaceship!"

"Your right Sonic, lets do this!" Tails ran outside the door. "C'mon, we aren't gonna stay here all day, gotta ship to build. We don't need to stay here anymore."

"Geese, Sonic. Do you have this effect on everyone you talk to. Your like a plague, of energy." Shadow said. Maria laughed at them.

"He gives super energy to the people he touches, heehee." Maria went out the door.

"Yeah, that's me. Sonic the superhog. Heheh." Shadow slapped him on his way out. "Oww. Your mean."

"Your an idiot."

"And your an ass!" Sonic whispered. Shadow turns around.

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Sonic waved his hands as he said that.

"Good." They continued walking. Tails was the first one outside. May passed him on the sidewalk with a bag in her arms. Tails gave her a big kiss on the cheek. May approached Shadow.

"What's wrong with him, why is he so happy?" She said. Shadow just pointed at Sonic. Tails ran around the corner and came back in the tornado3. He had taken the green emerald from Sonic and put it in the engine. The car lifted up on a single metal stand. The wing's that were going along the sides, sprang out, slid forward, and flipped over into the original wings. The back wheels retracted into the tail of the plane. The back wing came out and the whole thing went back down. May jumped in the back seat. "I don't know what your up to, but it sounds good."

Tails started the plane up and tossed a blue card to Shadow. "Use this to access the air base here, tell them to approve the tornado for clearance. I'll be back." Soon the plane was moving slowly, but gaining speed fast. Sonic went after them, on the side of the plane. Tails kicked in the twin boosters. Sonic jumped onto the tail of the plane, and they were gone.

"Well, I guess we have to pack the stuff up." After an hour Shadow and Maria were running along the road to the air base. Maria is holding onto Shadow's arm trying to keep up, but failing. She has to hop to keep from falling behind. Shadow notices this and stops. "Im sorry, it's to hard to keep up with me, huh?"

"It's...okay...Im...(huff)..fine." Maria is really tired. "Ok...I am tired. Guess we will walk."

"Here." Shadow gave her his hover skates. "Wear these, you'll be much faster." Maria is now wearing Shadow's shoes. He is just wearing his socks. He starts running and Maria is skating as fast as a car, about 100mph. "Well, that's better." They finally arrive at the air base. They trade shoes back. Shadow hands her shoes back.

In the skies near the burned island. A small orange biplane is skimming on the water. "Tails. Don't you think you should go up a little, what if you hit the water." Sonic said nervously. Tails could always mess with Sonic this way. Tails was nice this time, because Sonic hadn't done anything stupid to him yet. They landed at the island in a few seconds though. Sonic jumped of instantly and kissed the ground. "Im alive."

"Your fine, Sonic. C'mon and get up." Tails passed him by and May followed. "He can be over dramatic, don't fall for it."

"HEY JERK!" Said a familiar voice. Tails turned around and it was Jen the grey fox. She is wearing her usual red battle kimono. It has golden dragon designs all over it. She looks really angry(i mean nuclear angry) her eyes are red and glowing.

"K-Kaida...what're you doing here?" Tails is scared.

"What am I doing here, you ask? Do you know how LONG I'VE BEEN HERE?"

"Uh...uh...a few hours?"

"FIVE DAYS!"

"Hey calm down little lady, if you missed him that badly-" Sonic gets whacked in the head and is sent flying into the top of an extremely tall tree. He slides down it slowly. "Ameeeee...weel joo marree meee?" Sonic's eyes are twirly. Then he lands in some bushes.

"Kaida...can't we talk about this?" Tails whines.

"Lemme put it this way!...NO!" Kaida starts walking slowly towards Tails.

"Don't touch him!" May stood beside Tails. But realized she just put herself in trouble.

"OHH...I'm going to enjoy this!" Kaida cracked her knuckles. After about five minutes, it was over. She dragged their bodies into the bushes.

"Uh...what happened?" Tails opened his eyes and got up.

"All is forgiven...you paid the price." Kaida was sitting there, sipping some tea. "Now, as for that blue hedgehog, is he always like that?"

"Yeah, Sonic is always like that, no sense in trying to change him." Tails goes over towards Sonic. "Hey Sonic, are you okay?"

"Oh, brother Tails, Im just dandy, in the fluffy valley of fun. My...head is tiny, if you eat turtles. Why you lit-" Tails slaps Sonic across the face. "Wha-what happened?"

"Tails, are you hurt?" May ran by and looked him over. "Well, that's good. Kaida can be really mean, oh, hi Sonic, your okay too?"

"Okay, lets get down to business. Kaida?" Tails turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Are there any survivors in the village?"

"Oh, yes there are, quite a lot of them too. C'mon." They all followed Kaida into the forest and to the ruins of the village. It looked a little better since the fire is gone. The trees are burned on the outside, but they are still alive. Most of the village is rubble, except for the shacks that were away from the center of the village. The shack that Morgan had owned is still in the woods. It looks bigger than usual, like more parts have been added recently. Just to their right are a bunch of mounds of dirt, they have stones at the top end of each one. Kaida starts crying a little.

"Huh, what's wrong?"

"It's...nothing, just leave me be. You can just do whatever you came here for, I need to be alone for a while." As Tails passed her he whispers into her ear.

"I know you loved him."


	6. Ch 6 Girls Secrets

Ch 6: Girls Secrets

Back at the air force base, Shadow and Maria are looking around for their quarters, that were assigned to them. There are in a dusty hangar where a bunch of old planes and jets are kept. These aircraft are way ahead of anything made on the Earth. Even Eggman's inventions look wimpy compared to the things in here. "Wow, these jets are impressive, the doctor would never be able to take this planet over."

"Shadow, do you have to talk about him? I don't want to think about the things he has done. It disgusts me!" Maria looks slightly angry. She approaches Shadow. "Can you promise me you wont talk about Ivo anymore?"

"Um sure, If you promise me one thing."

"Oh, what do you want me to do?" Before she could speak he kissed her. She blushed slightly and after a moment passed, which lasted for what seemed like forever, she kissed him back. "Shadow."

"Promise me, that you wont leave me again." Maria didn't say anything, but she went over and hugged him tightly. After about five minutes they start to check the rest of the place out. Maria suddenly stops. "Huh, what's wrong?"

"Where is the ladies room?" Maria blushed. Shadow pointed to a hallway. Maria runs very fast into the hall. She bumps into guards, asking them where a bathroom is. But none of them know. "There has got to be one female restroom here." After going into five more halls, she finally spots a female restroom sign. Maria finishes and looks into the mirror and fixes her hair/quills.

"Hey...over here." Said a familiar female voice.

"Who, me? Wait...where are you?"

"I don't know where I am." Maria searches the room, but finds nobody.

"Okay...enough games, seriously...where are you?"

"I told you, I have no idea where I am. I only see you in a window." Maria is getting scared a little.

"B-but...there aren't any windows in here." Maria looks into the mirror. "Ok Maria, you didn't hear a thing, you are normal."

"H-hey...you. Look here...through the window. I see your face." Maria jumps back and hits the wall.

"This is...im-im-possible...your not real!" Maria goes back to the mirror.

"Don't be scared of me, I only want someone to talk to. Please?" Maria's reflection is crying. "I just need to talk to you, I've been trapped in this place for a days."

"Ok, I'll stay. Who are you, anyway?" Maria asks. '_I can't be talking to my reflection, it's just not right._'

"I'm Masako Chin. What's your name?"

"I'm Maria Kintobor. How did you get trapped in there, do you know?"

"Well, I remember I fell to the ground and blacked out. Then I awoke here. I can see you through a window, but the rest of this place is white." Maria is looking sad now.

"Masako, your in a mirror. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Sorry for what?"

"For possessing your body."

"So, I am basically a ghost now?"

"Well, I guess you are. But we are separated. I'm not quite ready to leave either, can I please have your body for a while, I promise I wont get hurt, or do anything else to harm you. I don't want you to haunt me."

"It's okay, but you have to talk to me at least once a day, deal?"

"You have my word Masako, it was nice meeting you. I should get back to Shadow, I will talk to ya later, bye." Maria left the restroom. '_This whole spirit thing is weird, but Masako seems really nice. But I can't let Shadow or anyone else find out about this, they'd think I'm nuts._' She goes back through the halls, trying to remember which way she came from. "Uh-oh. Im lost."

In the upper atmosphere of the Earth, a small blue biplane is flying upwards. It is having trouble flying at that altitude. Then suddenly the engine stops all together. "C'mon...think girl, think. Where would he have put the transformation switch?" She looks down at all the controls. Then pushes a button that looks like a star. The plane starts changing. The wings split and make an X wing shape. The straight wings change into slanted back jet wings, and slide halfway back and lock in place right where the cockpit is. The tail splits apart and stays open as a large booster shapes itself from the hole. After it finishes, the tail re-closes around the booster, but is still apart slightly. The two halves of the rudder turn into small versions of the large wings. They both open to a forty-five degree angle. Small latches keep the main part of the tail together. Finally a glass dome comes over the cockpit. "Yes...found it, I'm so smart."

The girl looks up at her reflection in the window. She is a pink hedgehog girl. Her soft spines are all frayed and messy, like she was in a fight recently. She has a red headband on her head, that keeps her quills from going too crazy. Her gentle green eyes are filled with sadness, like she lost someone close to her. But there is also an unnoticeable hatred in them as well, almost like a distant beacon. You can barely see it but you know it is there. On her forehead are three tufts of hair that are thick and bushy. She wears a simple red dress with a white fringe around the skirt. It is backless and has a white collar around her neck. "Amy...you have got to fix your hair or else Son-ic will never...never...see him again..." She starts crying. Tears are flowing down her cheeks. "Stop thinking about him...he's gone. You need to focus on your mission. Kill Eggman." Her tears are gone and she is emotionless. Like an assassin. She is on her way to the Space colony...ARK.

"Sir, we have an unidentified object heading right for us." Said a small Eggman-like robot.

"WHAT?" Yelled Eggman. His now white mustache is sticking straight out. He turned his Robo-suit towards his minion.

"It...appears to be a small blue jet-plane."

"NO WAY? He can't be here. This is impossible!" He looks like he is about to smash his robot.

"Incoming transmission...Should I put it through?"

"Grrr...Fine, just get it over with." Eggman sounding slightly depressed. A video screen pops up. "A-Amy...how did you...bah. What do you want? Im busy ruling the world, do you want me to imprison you. Or are you going to stop me. Hoohoohoo, that's a laugh."

"I came here, to surrender to you. I've lost everything that matters to me, so I've come to join you on your plot against the world. I swear my allegiance to the Eggman Empire!"

"Well...this is certainly a surprise...Miss Rose. But I don't know If I want your service, I should just kill you."

"I know where Angel Island is, and the master emerald."

"Now you have my attention. Ok welcome aboard." The transmission ended. The tornado2.5 heads toward the docking bay on the ARK. A tracking beam is pulling her in. After the outer doors close, Amy pushes the star button again. The Tornado reverts to its normal mode. Amy hops out of the cockpit. A voice yells out of a speaker. "First things first, Rose. Tell me what you know!"

"Well, I can get you the master emerald on the island. Knuckles put a mist forcefeild over the entire island. It protect the island from anything Eggman related. So you and your robots can't pass through it. I on the other hand, can go freely through it."

"Are you willing to kill anyone in your way. If they catch you, I mean. I want you to be completely loyal to me. And obey without hesitation."

"Yes, I pledge my allegiance to you. Amy Rose of the Eggman Empire."

"Gooood...bwahaahaahaahahaha..." The door opens to the rest of the colony, and Amy steps through it.

"So close now, I just have to gain his trust even more, then I'll just cut him open." The door closes behind her. She enters a small decontamination chamber and gasses clean her. She eventually makes it to the central control room. "Good evening, my lord." She bows to Eggman. "I also know that Rouge is on the island as well. She might have some information on G.U.N. and you stored somewhere. And She is Knuckles girlfriend. If we can capture him, we can make sure to use Rouge well."

"HohoHOO, you aren't as innocent as I thought. Very well. Your first mission is to capture Knuckles. Now go, my new minion." Before she leaves, she turns around.

"If it isn't too much trouble, I would like to have control over Metal Sonic, when I successfully return, that is."

"Okay, don't fail me." Amy prepares to leave in the Tornado2.5. After an hour, she was on her way back to Angle Island. The sky was a sight to behold, being in the upper atmosphere, one can see a ton of stars. Amy isn't in the mood for it though. She isn't in the mood for anything, for that matter. She has grown past everything that brings her joy. She no longer feels such emotions of joy, love, happiness, and fun. Now she only feels empty, hate, and sorrow. A certain red echidna is going to feel first hand, the true wrath of Amy. As she approaches the island, something makes her think. '_I do love you Amy, I miss you. Huh, Amy...he's gone, just stop thinking about him_.'

In the forest surrounding the kitsune village, Sonic is relaxing by a river. '_I'm coming home Amy, please be there for me, I promise I'll give you a real chance, I will let you catch me._' Sonic returns to the village and meets up with Tails. '_Man, he sure is different than the Tails I remember, I can feel that he is...really strong._'

"Well, that turned out really well. I got like, thirty people to join me. Now I have to get them to the airbase, but I don't know how." Tails sits down and thinks.

"Um...Mr. Tails...we have a boat that can take us there.." A little pink kitsune girl said. She then ran back to the village.

"Problem solved, buddy." Sonic runs into the village and Tails follows. The group of kitsunes is waiting.

"Ok...your plane is on the boat and we are ready to go, this project is going to take a while, are you sure it'll be alright?"

"Don't worry it'll be fine, the Darlan Federation is under a new leader, he is a nice guy. Now off to sea!"

"TO SEA!" Said the crowd. In the distance, Sonic was making some kids laugh, he was running around in circles really fast. Then pretended to fall and hurt himself.

"C'mon Sonic, the boat's gonna leave without ya!" Tails is boarding the boat now. The boat is a small steamship the size of two busses side by side. It has one large smokestack. Most of the boat is wood, except for the hull. That is steel. "Oh...almost forgot someone, again." Tails quickly got off the small boarding plank. He uses his two tails as propulsion and is at his top speed. Tails makes it back to the cemetery. "Kaida, the boat is gonna leave. I really almost forgot you again." Kaida get up and Tails grabs her hand and they run, but it is slower.

"Takeshi-runjutsu!" Kaida invoked a ninjutsu, she is instantly as fast as Sonic almost. But they make it to the pier too late. The boat is on the horizon. "Crap, too late! This is all your faul-" Tails suddenly started flying towards the boat. Kaida is holding his arm. They land on the back of the boat unnoticed. "Your lucky you can fly." Tails ran around the boat, looking for May. Kaida found a spot to meditate.

"Man, wonder where she is?" Tails keeps looking. Eventually he finds her looking over the railing. "Hey."

"Hmm...oh, hi Tails." May sounds a little depressed. Tails goes next to her and leans on the rail.

"What's wrong May?" She looks at him with tears in her eyes.

"It's...it's just your going to be leaving soon. I don't know what I want to do. Part of me wants you to stay here, on Sol-sine. But the other part wants to go with you."

"Well, I have to return to the Earth, they need me. If you want to go with me, your welcome to, I hope you do." Tails got closer to her. If you want to stay here, then I'll promise to return, and live here with you."

"Tails...you would really do that...but, I think being apart from you that long would tear me apart. My mind is set. I'm going with you, there isn't much for me here, I never knew my parents, and Zuyen is gone now. There is only Kaida left, but trust me, I would not want to live with her." May got close to Tails. They are about to kiss, but someone throws a fish at them. It hits in between their mouths. "Yuk...I kissed a fish!"

"Blegh...who did that?" Tails turns around to find Kaida laughing.

"That's why I don't want to live here." May and Tails walked away from Kaida. She starts laughing even more and rolls on the floor.

"Haahaaha...That was awesome..." Said Kaida. Sonic appeared and gave her a high five.

"Am I the master or what, that was one of the funniest things I have done to him. Good shot Kaida." Sonic quickly went to look for Tails. He spotted him up ahead.

"Tails, are you sure about this?" May whispered. Tails turned the corner into a cabin. He put a bucket of rotten fish heads on the top of the door. Tails winked at May. She took a deep breath. "Now we can make out in private Tails." She said in a loving tone, loud enough for anyone to hear.

"Hey, what are you two doing in here?" The door opened and the bucket fell. Tails is the first to look.

"Uh-oh.." Tails froze in fear. What he saw was bone chilling. A super angry, grey fox covered in fish heads. "Run away!" Tails grabs may by the arm and they hop over Kaida.

"WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU, YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUE MEANING OF MY NAME!" Kaida looks around and sees nothing. Up on the roof of the boat, Tails and May are hiding.

"Well, at least we are alive...and shes still down there. Now we are alone." May points behind Tails. "Uh...Shes behind me, right?" May nods. "Well, crap."

Up on a high pole on the highest point of the boat...

"At least we have eachother-" Tails said. He and May are hanging upside down and tied together. Facing away from eachother.

"Tails, not another word. Im tired. Goodnight." May closes her eyes.


	7. Ch 7 Off to Space

Ch 7: Off to Space

"Wow, I can't believe this only took a week to build. All of you were a great help, thanks everybody." Tails said over the announcer. He is sitting in the cockpit, on the top level of the ship. The cockpit has a simple design. In the center of the room is a rocket shaped machine. It is raised from the bottom, and looks like it just floats there. But a bunch of large pipes and wires went down the center shaft underneath. There is a console at the back with a seat attached to it. That is the Captains chair. Just up a few feet there are two more chairs facing out from the machine, on either side of the captains seat. Each seat has an extended arm rest that holds a small console. There is one more console just behind the captain seat. It just has a chair attached to the floor.

"Hey Tails, come down to the engine room, we need you to put the emeralds in." Said a voice over the intercom.

"Be right there." Tails runs out of the Cockpit. The doors open automatically. "Thanks William."

"Your welcome." A voice out of a speaker said. As Tails is walking towards the elevator, Shadow appears in front of him. He is holding a metal suitcase.

"C'mon. Chaos Control." Shadow grabbed Tails by the arm and they are instantly in the engine room. "Ok Tails, you put the emeralds in." Tails takes the suitcase from shadow. He opens it and looks at the seven sparkling gems. Each one with an unlimited amount of energy, and many unsolved mysteries.

He looks up in front of him. The engine room is smaller than the cockpit by a few feet in diameter. The door to the room is directly behind Tails. In front of him are four large cylinders, two are near the ceiling and two are near the floor. They form an equal square apart from eachother. The cylinders go through the wall behind them to who knows where. In the center of each tube is a twist and pull lever, for emergency shutdown. They are vertical now. Between all of these tubes is another device. It is a large curved panel, with seven emerald slots and a glass covering. Tails walks up to the panel and places each emerald in a slot, then closes the glass.

"That should do it. I think we are set to go. Time to test the engines." Tails runs out of the room with Shadow. This time they walk. They are going down a long hallway until they stop at the elevator. Where a button would usually be, there is a camera lens.

"Hello Tails. Hello Shadow. Which floor do you want?" Said William.

"Top." The doors open and they walk in. In five seconds the doors open again. "Thanks William." Tails goes into the captains chair. "Ok, would everyone please get a safe distance away from the ship? Im running an engine test. In Five...Four...Three...Two...One." Tails pushes the engine test button and it starts up. The ship vibrates slightly. The readings on the engine screen are all showing normal signs. The first engine goes full power, then goes down to no power. Engines 2, 3, and 4 also do the same. "Ok, test is complete. It's safe now. Hey Sonic, get the girls and come on in." Tails turns off the intercom after this.

"Ok, now where are they?" Sonic looks around and stops to look at the ship. It is shaped like a rounded diamond. The ship is still laying horizontally in the hangar. The nose is slightly square shaped and the tip is rounded a little. Small holes are around the perimeter of the nose. They are set a few feet away from eachother, and act as small jets to maneuver the direction of the ship.

The rear of the ship is very different. A short cylinder comes out of the back. It is tipped with a long cone that is segmented. Each segment has four blades that get smaller as they get closer to the end. Attached to the cylinder are four boosters. They form an X when looked from behind or in front. Each booster is attached to the cylinder, by a flat metal plate. The boosters are round and sleek. They too, have cone shaped propellers on the rear ends. The front ends are half circle caps. The cockpit is on the highest point of the ship(Only when the ship is horizontal, when vertical the cockpit would be considered in the middle, between the nose and the rear).

The main color of the ship is blue, with gold trim around the nose and front ends of the boosters. The cone propellers are gold also. The area around the cockpit is a dark red. The ship is hanging by a lot of chains attached to moveable cranes on the ceiling beams. Under the ship is a portable launch pad. Right by the side of the ship is a lift that goes the hatch. Sonic spots May and runs toward her.

"C'mon. We gotta go." He grabs her arm and speeds off toward the lift.

"Thanks, Sonic. For messing up my hair!" May turns around, but Sonic is already back with Maria. "Your...too fast."

"We could have walked here you know." Stated Maria.

"What can I say, your just slow." Sonic and the girls are on the lift now and are going up. The lift stops at the hatch and a little walkway slides out. The hatch automatically opens and they enter a round hole. Then it closes behind them. "Wow, this is cool."

They enter a round room. It has no floor since it is all one round wall. There is a sign in the wall that says 'Pressure Chamber' right above Sonic's head. "Welcome to the Foxstar I. I am William. The most advanced computer that my creator has ever made. You are the remaining crew. Sonic the Hedgehog, May Mizuki, And Maria Kintobor...Interesting..."

"Huh...what is?" Maria asked.

"Nothing...I just found a slight bug in my system. Nothing to worry about, enjoy your stay." The next door opens and they exit the pressure chamber. "Please, continue down this hall towards the elevator, you are wanted in the cockpit."

"Hey guys, so do you like the ship?" Tails said in an excited way.

"It's cool, but that Billy is sure weird." Sonic looks around like he's being watched.

"My name is William, Sonic. And I am all over this ship, so do watch your manners towards me."

"Uh...Tails? When he said all over the ship, does he mean everywhere?" May is slightly scared sounding.

"Everywhere, except for the bedrooms and bathrooms." May is instantly relieved. "Don't worry, he isn't evil and wouldn't hurt any of us. Now...to business. I am the captain of this ship, so I'll pilot it. But...I need three others to help me."

"Well, Im out. I'll be in my room." Shadow just walks out.

"Ok, you three will help me. Sonic and May, you can be my tech support. Maria, you will be the navigator." It happened so fast they just stood there looking at him. "Ok...now its time to prepare for launch."

"Good, because Im starving." Sonic is rubbing his belly.

"I said LAUNCH, not LUNCH! Sonic, just sit in that chair." Tails points to the right chair. Sonic sits in it slowly. Then he whispers to his stomach. "May you sit in that one. Ok...both of you read these books." He tosses them each a book. Then Tails gives a different book to Maria. "These are the instruction manuals for your specific jobs. Please learn them good, we don't want any accidents in space."

After an hour they were all done studying. Sonic put his book down and looked tired. "I never want to go to school, studying is hard."

"Please tell me you learned something." May said.

"Err...well, I know that the...thingy is bad to push...um...this thing!" Sonic pushed a button. Then a warning came up. "Oh my god...were gonna die!" Tails quickly pushes a bunch of buttons and the warning fades.

"Sonic, your fired!" Tails is mad.

"Um...ok, thank you." Sonic leaves fast.

"May, do you know your job?"

"Basically yes, it shouldn't be that hard."

"Ok, I completely understand my job, it sounds easy." Maria looks happy as she sits with the book closed. "I read every page and remember it all."

"Good job, that's a relief." Tails pushes a button for the intercom. "Come in, control room."

"Foxstar I, we read you loud and clear." A voice states.

"We need the supplies now, Im proceeding to open the bottom hatch." Tails looks up. "William, open the cargo hold hatch." A small sound is heard. On the outside of the ship there is an open hatch on the bottom. A huge door is open at a ninety degree angle. A large truck is directly under the opening. It is just a big moving flatbed and is a perfect square. There are a lot of boxes on it. Most of it is food and water. There is one box of personal belongings, which is a few clothes that May and Maria had recently bought, the crystal sword, and Tails' electronic devices. The last thing is the Tornado3, it is strapped to two loading crates(the things that forklifts carry with boxes on top). The whole platform rises until it is right in the opening. It then tilts until all the items slide onto the cargo room floor. The platform descends and the hatch closes.

"Ok, we are ready to leave now." Tails puts a harness over him. "Everyone, please put a safety harness on." Tails flips a switch. "Gravity generator on."

"Whats that do?" May asks curiously.

"When the ship goes vertical, it'll keep us on the floor in the entire ship. Ok, shudders open, and systems on standby." Suddenly there is a large movement that rocks the ship. On the outside, the rear chains are slowly descending until the ship is hanging vertically. The end of the ship is just a foot away from the ground. Suddenly the 5 cone propellers retract. Now the ship slowly lowers to the ground. A metal beam come up alongside the bottom of the ship(which is now the opposite side from the cockpit) and attaches to various points and the nose.

"All systems show normal, Foxstar I clear for liftoff." The voice says again. The roof of the hangar is opening and a warning siren fills the entire room. People are running to the inside of the building and close the blast doors. The main doors also close up the hangar. "Ten...nine...eight...seven..."

"Are you guys ready? Were going home..." Tails has his fingers crossed. The launch is totally automatic, controlled by the computer and the people in the control room.

"...Four...Three...Two...One...Liftoff!" The four booster engines ignite and push the ship up slowly, and then gain more speed. The Foxstar I is clear of the hangar now. The ship is going straight up into the blue sky. As they get high enough the sky gets darker and darker, until you can start to see stars. The ship clears the atmosphere. After a few minutes they clear the planet's gravity. The engines stop blasting, and the cone propellers come back out.

"Starting warp drive...Now!" The propellers start spinning rapidly, each one goes in the opposite direction as the previous one. Then the rockets ignite. It causes a twirling blaze that is extremely fast, they are going at the speed of light, out into the depths of space.


	8. Ch 8 Space Trip

Ch 8: Space Trip

Everything about space is unknown. No one really knows who or what caused the universe to be. Out in the darkness floats something that wants to control it. Something pure evil. Something that has no heart whatsoever. It looks like a big dark gas cloud as it passes a nearby star. It is traveling nearly the speed of light towards a specific comet, a black comet to be exact. Once it reaches the comet, it absorbs into it. The inside of the comet is actually some kind of alien base. The whole place is nasty looking, with red and purple oozing liquid pools. Yet there are no beings whatsoever. The dark mass goes until it reaches a huge circular chamber. In the center is a strange being. It only has half of a body and floats there. The alien wears very strange clothing that is all dark and ragged. It also has a three spiked head, two of them jut out sideways and go past its shoulders. The third spike goes upward. The alien has three red eyes on its head also. The black mass opens two large smokey red eyes.

"Sir, I have failed you. The planet Sol-Sine is no longer under my control." Spoke the black mass. This news seemed to upset the alien.

"WHAT...I thought you had it under control, Black Phantom. Why have you failed?" The alien's voice is very deep and ghostly. "You had forty-nine years of control there, and you lost it that fast!"

"Sir, please forgive me...this...young fox defeated me with a holy power unlike anything I have ever seen, but I swear to you, he will pay with his life! Black Doom, I am the best of your warriors, you wont be disappointed again!"

"If you do fail again, don't bother coming back here. Now go!" After this the dark cloud vanishes.

Many million miles away, the Foxstar is steadily going through space. The ship is dark all over, except for the little computer lights. It is night on the ship's clock. Everyone is sleeping, except for Shadow. He is sitting on the edge of his bed. His shoes and gloves are off, in a neat place under his bed. The room is completely dark and you can't even see a thing if you tried. He exits his room and enters a small hallway. It is lit up by a small blue light, that provides just enough light to see. Shadow mumbles a little as he walks towards an open area. "Why do I feel weird? Gahh...I can't even sleep. Oww! My...head..." Shadow collapses onto the floor, and slips out of consciousness. Almost five hours later, he is still sleeping.

"Attention crew members, morning has arrived...don't sleep too late, I don't want my systems to malfunction." William stated over all the speakers in the ship. Shadow quickly awoke at the sound of him. He was just about to sneak back into his room, when someone touched his shoulder.

"Hey Shadow. Your up early." It was Sonic. "So, what are ya doing?"

"Nothing, what are YOU doing!" Shadow brushed sonic's hand off his shoulder. "Now If you'll excuse me, I have business to take care of!" Shadow runs to his room.

"Jeese, whats his prob? Oh well, time for some grub." Sonic turned on the main lights for this floor. The large room is actually a kitchen/living room. The kitchen area is in a corner of the room. It has a fridge, an electric oven, and a microwave. There is a large oval table also. In the opposite corner is the living room area. It has a couch and television on the wall(they only use it for video games, because they are in space.)

"Hey, Im not done sleeping"

"Five more minutes!"

"Blasted HEDGEHOG!"

"Mumble mumble Grrr!" Everyone is awake now.

"I guess I should make breakfast for them. To make up."

"Mmmm...smells good." Said Tails. He looks at all the food spread out. There are plates of pancakes and bacon all around the table. "Wow, you actually made a decent breakfast for once."

"Gee, thanks." Sonic looks at him sourly.

"Well, I am hungry, so I wont care how it tastes." Tails shoves an entire pancake in his mouth.

"Tails, what smells so good?" May grabs a seat next to him. She is still wearing her pajamas, that she recently got as a gift from Falcner. He gave them all going away gifts. The girls got new clothes from the best store on the island. Sonic got two weeks worth of chili dogs. Tails got a really nice sheath for his sword, and a top of the line video game system(Like a Gamecube/xbox/ps2 type of system.) with 40 games. Shadow got, well, he didn't want anything, but got a black cloak. He also gave them a months worth of everyday things and food.

"Hmm...Oh just some pancakes and bacon."

"Pan...cakes? Cake for breakfast?" May looks at the food, confused.

"Sol-Sine hasn't invented pancakes? May, you must try it! Here." Sonic tossed a couple of pancakes onto her plate. "Here, pour some syrup on it." After about a minute she licked her plate clean.

"Oh my god, that was the best thing I've ever eaten! I can't believe this was never thought of back home."

"Well, I'm gonna go play that videogame thing, bye." Sonic just zipped over to the couch and started playing. May got up and went back to her room. It is down the hall opposite to Shadow's hall. At the end of this hall is the elevator. "After I change, I will meet you in the cockpit." Tails goes towards the elevator and goes down a floor to the engine deck. He walks down the long hall and stops halfway. He turns and faces the wall.

"William the password is: Orange Fox." Suddenly a door slides open and Tails enters a small room with a large computer tower on the center of the wall. The door closes behind him. "Ok time for your daily scan." Tails turns on a monitor that is built into the tower. He checks everything and all is ok. "That's all looking great, keep up the good work William!" Tails is finally in the cockpit. May, Shadow, and Maria are waiting in their seats. "Give me a status report Maria."

"Our Path is clear to the earth, except for one thing, the Sun will probably be in the way. So we'll have to go around in about three and a half weeks." Maria is wearing a headset that covers her ears and eyes. It is a virtual helmet. Inside she sees a 3D model of the space around the ship, she can also see anything that is within the whole Milky Way galaxy. Any unusual object would be a red dot in the virtual area.

"Ok good, William. Please keep the ship on it's plotted course, until we get close to the asteroid belt in our solar system. We'll check on ya everyday though." Three of them left the cockpit. Leaving Maria behind to watch the navigator. They made their way to the living quarters again and entered the kitchen. Sonic is still playing the game. May walks over to where Sonic is.

"Um, can I play too?" She watched as he just beat a level.

"Uh...sure, choose a game." Sonic handed her the controller. She quickly chose a game. "You sure you want to play this!" The game she chose is called, Killer Combat of Blood and Demons. The title screen shows a bloody skull with a snake in the eye.

"Why, are you scared to play this game?"

"NO...I'm not scared. I'll beat you too!" Five minutes later. Sonic is frozen on the couch.

"Whats the matter...hello...Sonic...hello...Oh well, I win!" May leaves. She starts humming happily in the kitchen. After a few moments of shock, Sonic zipped over to Tails' room and knocked rapidly. There was no answer. He knocked so much that the door became dented.

"Uh...hey So-"

"Ahh...don't do that!" He turned around facing Tails.

"Oh...I was looking for ya. I have to tell you something about May."

"What abou-" Sonic grabbed Tails and pulled him into his room slamming the door. "Whats this about?"

"Ok we were playing this game, but she kicked my ass in it."

"Um...whats the big deal about that?" Tails is confused.

"The game was freaking, Killer combat of blood and demons! I lost ten times for about five minutes, I was gruesomely murdered in that game. I think she might want to kill me!" After this Tails burst out laughing. He falls on the floor laughing. "You should not go near her, she's a scary girl."

"Hahahaa...No." Tails gets serious. "It's in your head Sonic."

"But I-"

"No."

"But she-"

"NO."

"But yo-"

"NO!" Sonic is being dragged by hanging on Tails' leg. "HEY...Get OFF...OK. I'm gonna prove to you that she isn't evil!" Sonic got off his leg and got up. "Hey...May!"

"Yeah...whats up?" She asked.

"Sonic thinks your evil, because you beat him at a demonic game."

"Hahahaa...heehee...that's funny. I'm not evil, I'm just good at videogames. I always played those kind of games with Kaida, trust me, she is almost as good as I am. I can barely beat her." After this Sonic's jaw is dropped. His left eye is twitching. "I think Sonic isn't very good at videogames, or he isn't used to losing to a girl."

"I think I need to go lay down for a bit..." Sonic walked to his room slowly.

"I'm thinking it is both. Yeah both." Tails just sat at the table, May sat next to him. They put their heads down and faced eachother. Tails smiled suddenly.

"What...is it?"

"Nothing, it's just...your face is cute."

"Aww...your sweet. Your cute too." May just stared at Tails. His face changed to sad suddenly.

"You know, I miss my home. If its still there anyway. I'd like to show you all my favorite spots, and places. They might not be there when I get back. I'm scared to go home also. What if it's too late, all my friends might be...gone. Knuckles, Rouge, Amy...they might be gone. Even the humans." Tails starts getting teary eyed. "I want everything to be ok. To be alright."

"Tails..." May just gave him a hug.

Meanwhile, Shadow is looking around the storage room on the third deck(The third one down from the top) for something. He is silent but quick. He finds the black cloak and puts it on. He covers his head, now he is all black. Shadow steps back in the back of the room where the lights are off. He just sits there, waiting for something to happen.

After what seemed like forever, something started moving. It quickly ran in front of Shadow, but not enough to see it. Shadow got up quietly. As soon as he entered the light he heard something. "Who goes there!" Shadow turned around. Suddenly something hit him in the back, knocking him down. He looked up at his foe. "Y-YOU...your still alive..."

"Hahahaa...Now to have my REVENGE!" Said an evil female voice.

"Shiken-ryo-ninjutsu!" Another female voice shouted.


	9. Ch 9 Stowaways Aboard

Ch 9: Stowaways Aboard

Tails and May are sitting at the kitchen table when suddenly a small explosion rocked the Foxstar. "What the-"

"Whats going on Tails!" May shrieked. They both got up and ran to the cockpit.

"William, whats going on!" Tails is looking at the screen. It has a warning flashing on it.

"There has been a tiny explosion in the storage room, but nothing appears damaged." Just then Sonic rushes into the room.

"Tails! What going on, I heard an explosion!"

"I don't know, but I'm going to investigate, come on. To the storage room." They all leave and go in the elevator. Once on deck 3 they run down the hall to a big bay door. "William, open up." The door opens and the room is all smokey. Tails is the first one to enter. He puts his hand over his mouth and nose. Shadow appears out of the smoke.

"Tails, we got a couple of stowaways, stay back out there." Tails and Shadow ran out of the smoke. "Shh, just listen." They all just stood there. The smoke starts clearing and they see two people fighting intensely. Until one of the shadows makes a bright flash and hits the other one and sent it into the wall. The smoke is cleared more.

"K-K-Kaida?" May shouts. The smoke is fully cleared now and They see Kaida standing there. May runs over and hugs her, knocking her down. "I thought you were working for Falcner?"

"Will you please...GET OFF ME!" May jumped up onto her feet. "Huh...what?"

"Oh...I get it, you were fired, right. You were probably too angry, weren't ya?" May was holding back her laughter.

"No...It's not that! I'm just reporting to Falcner about this 'EARTH' planet. And um...never mind ok, we have bigger problems now." Kaida walked over to the spot where the other person hit the wall. Everyone else went to investigate as well. What they found was a girl hedge-knight. Her armor was covering most of her body. The only part of her showing is her black spines, they also have pink streaks going along the backs. Her armor is dented and has black burn marks all over it. "Hmm...who is she?" Kaida just stands there looking at the unconscious girl.

"I can explain..." Shadow stepped up. "But first, remove her armor so she isn't a threat anymore." Kaida removed the girl's armor and tossed it away. Now she is left with just her tech-cloth, which looks just like May's pink one. "Ok...I really don't know much about her. But she was one of the reasons Kit Isle was destroyed. She murdered Taurean too. I think we should just dump her out the hatch."

"SHADOW!" Maria slaps him in the head.

"It was just a joke, seriously. Um...we should at least lock her in one of the rooms until she wakes up." Shadow left the cargo hold and Maria followed. You can hear Maria talking in a harsh tone towards Shadow as they leave.

After a while they are all waiting outside one of the extra rooms. "Wow Kaida, you really knocked her out, are you sure you didn't kill her?" Suddenly there is a scream and a crash from the room. Tails looked at the door.

"That answers your question. Ok, who's going in there?" Everyone points at Shadow.

"What...why me!"

"Because you know her the most." Sonic stated it flatly.

"Just my luck...grumble..." Shadow opens the door and enters the room. Inside, the girl is looking at an overturned bed. "Wow...you sure showed that bed who's boss."

"YOU! Time to die!" She lunges toward Shadow, but he dodges it. She starts going at him more intensely, all over the room. "Quit moving around! Fight me!" She continues to attack with her feet, but as usual she fails to hit him. "Your getting on my nerves! COWARD!" She runs towards Shadow. As she runs, he dodges and trips her. The girl instantly falls flat on her face. "Grrr...Why can't I beat you! Just what are you anyway?" She just lays on the floor. Tears start flowing out of her eyes.

"Why are you trying to kill me?" Shadow had fixed the bed and is now sitting on it. "Do you even know that the war is over? Cinos is dead. So you have no orders to kill me anymore."

"That's not my reason for wanting to kill you. I want revenge!"

"For?" Shadow is just looking at her, confused.

"WHAT...you forgot! You don't even remember, do you? Oh this is just great!" She starts pounding on the floor with one of her fists. She gets up and hits Shadow on the cheek. "I've been through hell and back, just to find you. And you can't seem to recall ever hurting me!"

"I remember you killed Taurean, and I punished you for it. That isn't something you should want to kill someone for." Now the girl is really mad.

"How would you know anything about revenge? Your just some freak hedgehog that doesn't know anything!"

"Now you sound like a child. Your mad at me for doing the right thing. You killed people, and I had to punish you for your crimes. You can't say I know nothing about revenge, either." Shadow told her about his past and headed towards the door.

"If you know about revenge, why did you stop pursuing it? Don't those humans deserve to suffer like you did? Aren't you still mad at them?" The girl is now sitting on the bed.

"I made a promise to someone very important to me, but the time I spent in the capsule made it kind of forgotten, until her voice finally reached me later on. It stopped me from destroying the Earth, and I helped save it to atone for my crimes. What I wanted to do was wrong. You should just think about it at least. Your gonna be held here for a while." Shadow leaves the room now.

"But I don't have anyone important in my life anymore..." She falls to the bed and starts crying. Then she falls asleep in a few minutes. She starts tossing and turning, like she is having a bad dream.

_**On a lonely street somewhere there are two people walking. One is a male hedgehog with normal spines going back. His fur is orange except for his spine tips, they are red. The other person is a female hedgehog. She is average looking also, her spines are down and are past her shoulders slightly. She is a black hedgehog with pink streaks on her spines. She is wearing a light blue shirt with a red mini-skirt. They are holding hands as they walk.**_

_**'Are you sure we should be together?' Said the orange hedgehog. **_

_**'I said that nothing matters to me in this world, but you. I've made up my mind Xero, I'm staying with you forever.' She leaned up to him and they kissed. 'I love you.' Later, at daybreak. Someone approached them. It was a blood-red hedgehog in a trenchcoat. He wielded a light blade. 'Huh, who're you, what do you want?'**_

_**'I have come for his life.' He started running towards Xero. 'DIE...Imperial Scum!' He was too fast for Xero to block, and the blade went right through his stomach. He fell to the ground on his back.**_

_**'XERO...nooo!' The girl ran to his side. **_

_**'Please...Cilia...just run away...I...love...you...' Xero's breathing stopped.**_

_**'Wh-why...TELL ME WHY!' The hedgehog in the trenchcoat just stood there like nothing even happened.**_

_**'He was part of the Darlan Federation, Those scumbags must be eliminated for the greater good. Now just run along, we need the body to find out his name.' He started towards the fallen hedgehog.**_

_**'If anyone's evil...it's YOU. The rebel force is just a bunch of murderers! The Federation is fighting to get rid of people like you, to make the world a safer place! I hate your Rebellion, your stupid ideals of a false peace, with crime everywhere!'**_

_**'We will see whose ideals are false, after the Federation falls to the Rebel Force!' Then he suddenly left. Cilia just sat there crying...**_

Outside of Cilia's room everyone is back to their normal activities. May and Kaida are talking in the kitchen area. Sonic is sleeping on the couch. Everyone else is in the cockpit doing work. "So...you missed me, didn't you?"

"I told you I came here on federation business, and nothing more. I wouldn't miss an annoying girl like you."

"Well, I wouldn't miss an overly angry and bossy woman like YOU!" May is getting slightly angry.

"Who would miss a prissy, girly, and boy-obsessed BRAT!" Kaida slaps May.

"Your just an uptight, fake ninja!" May slaps Kaida back, harder.

"ANNOYANCE!"

"BULLY!"

"WIMP!"

"TOMBOY!" They are on the ground, slapping eachother. Sonic wakes up and stares for a moment. He sits up.

"Hey, can you keep it down please. It's hard to sleep with you children fighting." They suddenly punched Sonic in the face.

"KEEP OUT OF IT!" They both said in unison. Sonic just lays back down. As soon as he did that, May and Kaida start laughing hysterically.

"Ha ha...my pain is soooo funny...I'm just gonna leave now." Sonic gets up and goes to his room.

After an hour Tails, Maria, and Shadow came back from their work. "I need to check on miss, kill shadow, I'll be back." Shadow went in Cilia's prison/room. She wakes up fast and takes a defensive pose. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you, here's your dinner." He hands her a plate of roast beef and potatoes.

"Why are you giving me food? I am your prisoner." She stares at the food and sniffs it. "Is it poisoned?"

"No...its safe, sheesh you sure don't trust people. Hey."

"What?"

"I have to ask. Why did you kill Taurean anyway?" She instantly set her plate down.

"He's a murderer, that's why. I wasn't even ordered to kill him, he killed my only love, it's probably shocking to know that I have loved before, but anyway. He killed Xero without any reason, only because he was from the federation. Now you know." She began eating her food.

"It sounds as if the Darlan Federation was actually good, I guess I was on the wrong side after all, something was fishy about the Rebel Force. Well, bye. You are still gonna be locked in here."

"Actually, I decided not to kill you anymore." She continued eating. _'Wow, he is almost like Xero, for a moment anyway. He sure is an Interesting hedgehog.'_


	10. Ch 10 The Nightmare is Just Beginning

Ch 10: The Nightmare is Just Starting

Up in the stratosphere, on the last remaining safe haven for people. Angel Island to be exact. It is currently floating over the Amazon jungle, nearing a big lake. It really is the last safe place for anyone to hide on.

Rouge has been contacting G.U.N. for information. So far 32 countries have been either conquered, destroyed, or have surrendered to the Eggman Empire. Rouge has also convinced Knuckles to help rescue more people. They would tell G.U.N. to lead a bunch of refugees to a safe spot (usually a wilderness of some sort) and then they fly them up to the floating island in a helicopter. They are doing one of those missions now.

"Ok, please form groups of fifteen, not counting children, there can be up to 2 children per adult, or 2 Anthros per adult human. Please stay calm and quiet. You will all be airlifted to a floating island covered in mist." A soldier of G.U.N. stated with his loud voice. After about a minute a huge mass of mist approached above a lake near there. They are all in the jungle just outside the underground Headquarters of G.U.N. The three helicopters started up. It was quiet because of the stealth capabilities of the choppers. The first three groups went in a few seconds. After fifteen minutes they were on the last bunch of survivors. Then out of the sky appeared a blue biplane. It flew right into the mist instantly. Nobody really noticed it at all.

"This is Amy Rose, somebody please pick up." She sounded a little sad when she said this.

"AMY! You better explain yourself!" Rouge screamed over the radio.

"Rouge...I'm sorry...for taking off without asking...please..." She faked crying. Loudly like she used to.

"I Don't Care If your SORRY! I swear I'll-"

"-It's ok Rouge. Hey Ames...how are ya." It was Knuckles' voice.

"I'm ok I guess...I just needed time for myself. I'm sorry for the trouble..." Finally Amy lands the plane on an open field. "I have landed now. Over and out." She hops out of the Tornado 2.5 and runs towards knuckles' house. It is nothing much, it is built like a tropical hut with a hay roof. Huge leaves are on top of that to prevent water from leaking in. Amy knocks on the door. Knuckles lets her in.

"Are you sure your ok Amy, you look so...what's the word...Distant. Maybe we should talk about it." Rouge was about to protest, but Knuckles glared at her. Rouge just left quietly. "So, whats the matter?"

"Well, It's just so hard to let him go..."

"Sonic...right. I know it's hard, even though we fought all the time, he was my best friend. Even when I was tricked by Eggman, he'd make me figure out that I was fooled." Knuckles closed his eyes in prayer. He said something in an unknown language.

"Even if I try to forget him...I just can't stop hearing his voice. Am I going insane?"

"Hmm...maybe they are still alive? But I highly doubt it. They would have escaped by now. If Eggman tricked us, he couldn't keep them prisoner this long, without killing them. Tails is too smart to be a prisoner." Amy just sits there in a blank stare.

"Hey knuckles? Can we have a toast to Sonic and Tails?"

"Um...ok I guess. I'll get the wine that Rouge got for us." In a minute Knuckles brings back two glasses of wine on a plate. "Here you go."

"Um...I need a tissue." Amy said as she started tearing up. Knux instantly got up and left. As soon as he was out of sight Amy pulls out a pill from her glove. _'Im sorry knuckles, but it's time for your nap.'_ She breaks the pill over his glass, and all the powder falls into the liquid. The red wine turns green for a second and changes back.

"Ok Amy, here's your tissue." Knuckles hands it to her. "Ok...Here's to the Heroes. Sonic the Hedgehog, and Miles Prower." They both drink the glass down. In seconds he is fast asleep and falls over.

"This is too perfect...now to take him." She tries lifting him, but he is far too heavy. Suddenly the door opens.

"Oh MY GOD! What happened!" Rouge looks very worried.

"I-I-I don't know, he just suddenly collapsed...he might need medical attention!"

"But there isn't a hospital here. I know...take him to the G.U.N. Headquarters. I'll go with you in the Tornado." They quickly take Knuckles to the plane and put him in the back seat. Rouge rides on the tail of the plane. After they take flight something follows them from afar. It catches up very fast. It is now flying under the plane.

"Is it much farther? Actually, it doesn't matter. NOW!" Suddenly a metal hedgehog appears from behind and strikes Rouge in the head, knocking her out instantly. "You did that perfectly MS00034...return to base. Come in Doctor Eggman...I've succeeded perfectly. I have Knuckles...and Rouge as well sir."

Just then a huge hovering craft appears in front of the Tornado. A large door opens on the rear of the craft. Then a metal beam slides out from the ceiling of the craft. A metal claw then slides down the beam and closes over the body of the Tornado. Amy cuts the engine and lets the claw bring in the plane.

"Grab the Echidna and the Bat." Said a robotic voice. Two Metal Hedgehogs came and took them. Knuckles and Rouge are now in separate holding cells on the space colony.

"Muahahaa...Excellent work, Amy. Now as promised...METAL SONIC!" Suddenly a capsule came from the ceiling. In it was Metal Sonic. The capsule opened and he stepped out. "Ahem...Ok here he is. He gives Amy a kind of gadget. It looks like a small videogame system. "Metal Sonic...from now on you obey only Amy Rose. Now get out of here, I have business to take care of." Amy left and Metal follows her.

"Why do you want to own me. I kidnapped you once." Metal stated.

"You'll see soon enough...Now follow me." They go to her quarters. Eggman had made it with great accommodations. The room has a bed, a large wall computer, and a robot docking bay for the computer. The bed is pink with red pillows. "Ok...time to put my computer classes to good use. Tails, wherever you are, thank you. Metal...please connect to the computer." He obediently did as she commanded. She begun to type. She is trying to access him. 'Hmm...it needs a password.' Amy turned on the gadget that Eggman had given her. It had a bunch of different passwords for Metal Sonic. Each one is for access to his different functions. _'Ok...this'll take me all night to finish. I better get started.'_

"Are you finished yet? I need to recharge." Metal Sonic said in a slightly worried tone.

"I'm almost done." She just finished the last of her "Adjustments" to him. "You really have a ton of power inside you. I would have thought you could actually beat Sonic, but Eggy locked your powers away. I put them on a timer. 3 months exactly. You'll get your transformation power back...plus some things I put into you. You will be able to use your body as a lightning rod and use it against people. You can also absorb data from anything, living and non-living things. Your mind will be free of Eggman, If I fail to kill him by then. It will be your duty...no your destiny to rule over all lifeforms...as an overlord." Amy pushed a button and Metal Sonic went into sleep mode. Suddenly there is an alarm going off in the whole colony. "Wha-whats going on?"

"What?" Eggman yells.

"Doctor Eggman, there appears to be something attacking us. I don't know what it is." The main screen shows a huge mass approaching the Ark. "Activating Earth Barrier."

Many things have changed in the space around the Earth. There are seven Death Eggs floating around the equator, along with the Ark. They are perfectly spaced from one another. Between each one is an electrical energy line that flows a constant bond. Each Death Egg has one Super Emerald powering it. Right now something strange is happening to the energy outside. It suddenly breaks and the eyes of the Death Eggs start to glow green. Then they move and face away from the Earth. Then the eyes fire a laser out into space for a mile.

"Barrier almost complete." The lasers outside spread and an electrical barrier surrounds the entire planet. It glows in a multitude of colors. Just like if Sonic would in his hyper form. "Barrier at 100 power."

"Good...boy that was too close for comfort. That thing can't get us now...Hahahaa."

Back on the Foxstar. "Ok...since you swore not to hurt anyone, we'll let you walk around freely." Tails opened Cilia's room door and let her go. "But, don't go in the engine room, or the cockpit. The engine room can be dangerous, and the cockpit is very delicate. It's not that I don't trust you. Sonic has your rules too, Hehe."

"Thank you...I'm very sorry for what I did to you guys...the island got destroyed because of me. Those were my orders though." She bowed.

"Damn. Are you still apologizing for that. We already said we forgive you." Shadow just walked by, with a towel around his waist. His fur is dripping wet. Cilia stared at him for a moment, and blushed. She quickly realized she did and pretended to slip on the water on the floor.

"Oops...clumsy me." She got up and blushed more, from her fall this time._ 'You Idiot, what were you thinking, you don't like him, you like Xero, and only Xero!'_

"Ok...um, you might want a change of clothes from your tech-cloth. Go talk to Maria for some, since your both hedgehogs." Tails went to the couch to play a game against Sonic.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you asking for a CHALLENGE!" Sonic shouts this.

"Yes, I want to duel you in...Samurai Showdown!" Tails said in a fake Japanese accent. They are acting like goofs and Cilia sighs and walks away. After a moment she found Maria's room. She knocked lightly.

"Yes? Oh...hello. What a nice surprise seeing you here." Maria just smiled warmly.

"Uh..um...I need to borrow some clothing." Cilia blushed a little.

"No need to be embarrassed, were both girls here, I'd be glad to give you some. I just finished putting them all in the closet." Maria pointed to a grey door across from her bed. "Its big enough to change in." Cilia enters the closet. She comes out in a very small tank top and a red mini-skirt.

"Uh...I don't think so." She goes back in. This time she is wearing a blue hoody with grey baggy pants. "I liked the skirt." She went back in again. After about a minute she comes out. Cilia is now wearing a black t-shirt with a sad smiley face on it, the face is red line art. She has the pink skirt on too. On her head is a dark red headband. "This should do well. What do you think Maria?"

"Wow, your really cute." Maria jumps up and hugs her. She suddenly has a scared feeling in her. All the terrible images that Cilia sees in her dreams are flowing in Maria's head. She drops to her knees and lets go of Cilia. Maria has tears flowing down her cheeks. "Wha-what am I seeing...Cilia. H-how terrible...I understand now." Maria gets up and hugs Cilia tightly.

"Um...what are you doing...M-Maria." Maria is just holding Cilia.

"You have experienced such terrible things. Just stand still." Maria puts her forehead on Cilia's. Then a bright light engulfs the entire room._ 'I'm gonna save you from your nightmares.'_


	11. Ch 11 The realm of Spirits

Ch 11: The realm of Spirits

The ground is damp, but it isn't raining. The sky is almost white, but there is no sky. There are a few grey trees, but you cannot see anything but the trunk, going into the whiteness. Two Hedgehogs are laying in the middle of this dismal forest. One of them is blonde quills. The other one is black with pink streaks on her quills. The two female hedgehogs are sleeping near eachother. The blonde hedgehog is the first to stir.

"Uhhh...W-where am I. Oh that's right, this is the spirit world. We only have two hours to stay here. I hope I can do this." The blonde hedgehog says aloud. This awoke the other girl.

"H-hey..where am I?" She said softly. "Maria...what did you do! Is this some sort of trick? An illusion? Can you explai-OH MY GOD...I'm naked!" She quickly covers up with her arms.

"Cilia...please calm down. I will explain everything. See, this is the spirit world. We are in the Eternal Forest. I'm going to help you." Cilia looks at her, confused.

"With what? I don't need help with anything." Cilia gets up and looks around. "Why am I naked? Wait...this is weird, nothing is showing."

"That's because this is your spirit self, your not mortal right now. That's why nothing shows, your physical body is still on board the Foxstar." Maria grabs Cilia by the arm. "We only have two hours to be here, then we must get on the Moonlight train. It'll take us back to our bodies. C'mon, we have to search for Xero before his fate is chosen."

"H-how do you know about him? Just who are you anyway?" Cilia gets her arm free from Maria and jumps back.

"Ok, here's the truth." Maria explains everything to Cilia, the events of the Ark 50 years ago, the spiritual travel to Sol-Sine with Shadows body, and the possession of Masako. "But please, don't tell anyone about this, and I wont tell anyone about your secret."

"Ok...So where do we find Xero, do you know?"

"We should first try the City of Souls, he probably didn't get his judgement yet, He was wrongly killed, souls take a long time to process if they are murdered." They both start walking in the direction of the City of Souls. After a while of walking in the forest they finally reach the gate and enter the city.

"Hey, excuse me? Do you know anyone named Xero here?" Cilia asks a nearby soul. But there is no response.

"Cilia...most people's souls barely talk, something usually makes them not know who or what they are. It's actually quite sad. When I died I tried to enter this city, but when I reached the gate the guard said I had to go back as a wandering spirit. It was because of Shadow...If it hadn't been for me, Shadow would have destroyed the earth."

"How did you help him, if you were dead?" Cilia looks at Maria quizzically.

"I spoke to his mind in the form of flashbacks. It kept him from doing terrible things. It was hard work too, at first he got the wrong idea, and wanted nothing but revenge. But he finally remembered his purpose. Well...we gotta hurry. only have 1 hour and 30 minutes left." Maria grabbed Cilia by the hand and began to run towards a building. They enter and it appears to be a huge library. They approach an angel librarian. he is a human wearing white robes. With two large white wings of the feathered kind. "Ex-excuse me sir?"

'Yes, how can I help you?' He spoke into their heads, like telepathy. 'Don't be afraid.'

"Um..do you know a soul named Xero?" Cilia quickly butted in.

'Let me search our database, I'll be one second.' The angel typed like lightning and brought up Xero's file. 'Xero: Age 18: Orange hedgehog male. Is this who you are looking for, this is the most recent death of someone named Xero. We have over fifty-thousand more.'

"That's him! Do you know where he is right now!" Cilia is getting really excited.

'Let me see...oh he is at the Moonlight station, waiting for the Golden Express. It leaves in twenty minutes.' As soon as he said this both of them had left already. 'Such hasty girls.'

Maria and Cilia are running right towards the station. "Okay, ten minutes left, we need to hurry." They start looking for the golden express. Cilia spots Xero about to board the train. She leaves Maria and runs up to him.

"XERO! WAIT!" Cilia lands on him. "Xero, I missed you so much!"

"Cilia...what are you do-" Xero is cut off by a kiss.

"No time to explain, I'm just here temporarily, to see you. I love you." Cilia quickly explains everything since his death. "I'm so sorry Xero, I couldn't think straight without you. I joined the federation, wanting to avenge your death."

"I'm sad to hear you have been on this path of sin. I want you to be able to see me in heaven when you die. Please...don't kill any more people...I want you to be the Cilia I remember. The nice, cute girl I fell in love with. Ok?"

"Yes Xero, I want to be with you again...I vow to do everything in my power to repent for my sins." One more kiss they share before he gets on the train. He gets on and it vanishes in a fast golden light. "Yes..I will, I promise you."

"I'm so sniff happy for you Cilia." Maria has tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Lets go back to the mortal world now." They find the Moonlight Express nearby and get on. It flashes blue and vanishes into nothing.

A short period of time passes and suddenly Maria wakes up off the floor. She is back in her room. Cilia is in the same place too. "Are we back? Hmm...it looks like the same place. Maria?"

"Yeah...were back. Don't worry, time doesn't pass in the spirit world like the living world. One hour would be a minute here." Cilia gets up and is about to leave. She turns around and hugs Maria. Tears start falling from her eyes.

"Thank you...for everything. The pain in my heart is greatly lessened." Suddenly there is an angry yell in the kitchen.

"Alright! Who ate the last freaking pancake! The wrapper clearly said SHADOW on it!" Shadow has an empty plastic wrapper in his hands. But it quickly catches fire and melts/evaporates instantly.

"Uhhh...About the pancake...I...kinda...accidentally...ate it." Sonic said nervously. He gets up off the couch and runs. Shadow pursues him. Tails is watching from the couch, unable to see them. They are just too fast. Suddenly Sonic hits the couch and falls on Tails. "Hehe...Please don't kill me...But the pancake was soooo tasty." This only made Shadow more mad.

"I had it marked, you little pig."

"Hey, now I'm getting mad. Lets fight right here." In an instant, water sprays at both of them. Then it freezes, making ice crystals on their fur. "S-s-so c-c-cold-d-d..."

"Thank god you stopped. I was getting really annoyed. Now are you cooled off?"

"I-i...k-kinda o-overreacted I can al-always get mo-more pancakes-s." Shadow states in a frigid voice. "Please...ne-need hea-heat." Tails made a warm ray of light from his hands. It melts the ice. They are still shivering though.

"Whats going on out there. Oh my...Shadow you look terrible!" Maria goes back to her room and brings out a big blanket. She goes over to Shadow and puts the blanket around him and pushes him towards the couch. She makes him sit. Maria then sits next to him and gets in the blanket and hugs him.

"Ma-Maria? What are you doing?" Shadow is blushing a lot. He just sighs and closes his eyes.

"I'm just warming you up, silly. Don't be embarrassed."

"Hey what about me? I'm freezing here." Sonic yells this in anger.

"Oh you want to be warm too, Ok I'll get a blanket." Cilia goes into a room.

"Tails hurry, give me another heat blast. Here she comes, for the love of god, HURRY!"

"ALRIGHT ALREADY!" Tails launches a small fireball at Sonic. "Oh shi-" Sonic is slightly on fire, Tails makes a wind blast and the fire blows out.

"I think I'm done for the day."

"Sonic I'm so-"

"SORRY! You could have used less power! Do you even know how to use your powers right! It sure looks like you don't!" Sonic stands there looking angry.

"WHAT is your problem, It was an accident! Why are you so mad?"

"You have the problem! Your on some kind of power trip. You've really changed, I want the old Tails back!" Sonic pushes Tails away.

"Why would you want the old me back? Your just a power hog, you want me to be your sidekick forever! Is that it! I wish you never woke up out of that coma you were in!" Tails runs to his room. Then slams the door shut.

"I think you went overboard, faker. I think your just jealous of him. It's pathetic really." Shadow tried to get up, but Maria held him down. "H-hey..."

"Can you stay here just a little longer? Please?" said Maria in a whine.

"Maybe I said too much...I'm just...damn! I just wanna get home!" Sonic goes to his room. He lays on his back, thinking. '_What am I doing? I never used to snap at Tails like that. Well, I guess I'm crabby or something, But It's like I'm doing nothing to help. I feel so...left out. Tails is strong now, he doesn't need me anymore. He even has a girlfriend, I thought he would need my help to at least talk to girls. But I have nothing now. Amy might be dead..._' Sonic turns over and puts his face in the pillow. '_Wait...SHADOW, I need to train with him...to get stronger, but first, I need to apologize to Tails._' In a flash he is at Tails' door. He hears talking in there. Sounds like him and May. Sonic knocks so fast that it sounds like a vibration from a machine. "TAILS...It's me, I've come to apologize to you."

"Continue." Tails said from his room.

"Well, I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier, I was wrong. It was just a mistake." Sonic just stands there waiting for a few minutes.

"Apology accepted." Sonic waits a second and Tails comes out, then May. "Well, we are going to the cockpit to work, we only have five days until we reach earth." After they leave, Sonic goes to find Shadow. He is with Maria still, on the couch. Shadow has his eyes closed like always, but he is smiling a little. "Oh my God, your actually smiling!"

"What! Do you enjoy harassing me or something?"

"That's not why I'm here, I need some training." Shadow opens his eyes suddenly and give Sonic a confused look.

"YOU want ME to train you! HAHAHAHAhahahaaaa..." Shadow gets up from Maria's grasp. She falls over on the couch. Maria is fast asleep. "Well, ok...I have been bored for a while, but I'm not doing this for you, it's only because I have nothing better to do."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Testing...Hello, Jimthefox here. Sorry for the kind of boring chapters lately, been busy, but the next chapter will have good action, with Sonic and Shadow training, and others will join them too, heheh. And they will finally get to krish crackle pshhhhhhhhhh so cya later my loyal viewers."


	12. Ch 12 Much Needed Training

Ch 12: Much Needed Training

"Okay...Listen up. I have decided to show you all, my secret techniques." Shadow is standing in front of Sonic and the others. They all decide to train before they got to the Earth. "Tails? The fake emerald please?"

"Right...here you go." Tails hands the fake red emerald over to Shadow.

"I'm going to show you, CHAOS CONTROL!" In an instant Shadow appears on the other side of the training room. "That's it. It warps time and space around you. There are two types of chaos control, the one I showed you all, Is type 1, or Time stop. It basically makes time freeze around you and you can move freely and even harm your enemies. Type 2, or Spacial warp. It is for getting out of tight situations. You can instantly teleport to any place you've been to. Within a reasonable distance." Shadow walks toward Sonic. "You have used both types of chaos control, right?"

"Uh...yeah I have. I remember fighting you near the Eclipse Cannon. I used Type 1 there. Type 2 was when Eggman sent me towards the Earth in that capsule."

" Since you have used it before, you don't need training yet. Maria...since you are now a hedgehog, you should be able to use it. Here...try it." Shadow gives her the emerald.

"Um...Ok. Chaos Control." Nothing happens. "Chaos Control!" Still nothing.

"Hmm...just hold the emerald, and close your eyes. You need to feel for the energy first. It should be a feeling of excitement."

"Oh...that was the power of the emerald?" Maria blushes. "I thought that was me, heehee. Ok here goes." Maria pauses for a moment with her eyes closed. Her quills start going up slightly, and her bandanna does too. _'This is the energy, I feel it. RIGHT THERE!'_ The emerald glows a little. "CHAOS CONTROL!" Light starts pulsating from the emerald. Making it become a nucleus in the energy. Then a bright light flashes, and Maria disappears. She reappears two feet away. She's panting heavily on the ground. "I-i-i love you Shadow..." She faints after this.

"Maria!" Shadow runs over to her side.

"No...you can't have any more pancakes Shadow...your getting fat..." Maria is out of it and starts waking up. "Wh-what...hi Shadow...your not fat anymore?"

"You were dreaming...you just used chaos control!" Shadow hugs her. Everyone snickers a little. "Err, well...good job!" Shadow quickly gets off her, and helps her up. "That sure drained you, you better eat before you try again."

"But...I'm not hungry..." Maria's stomach rumbles loudly. "Ok...I'm going up to eat now." She leaves the training room and heads up the elevator. Once in the kitchen she gets a sandwich ready. Right before she eats it she pauses, and runs to the bathroom. "Ah...much better." She looks in the mirror. "Hey Masako..."

"Hey, how are ya?"

"I'm fine, this is like the fifty-third time we've talked right? We're gonna get to Earth in five days. I'm probably not gonna be able to be near any mirrors when we get there. But, I will try to find one A.S.A.P."

"Oh okay, that isn't a problem. Um...I have a question. Do you love Shadow?"

"Well, yes I do. We're best friends." Maria looks away for a second.

"No...I mean romantically."

"Wh-what...I dunno, maybe, but we can't. At least I think we can't." Maria sits down on the floor and blushes.

"What's holding you back? Your the same species now. It shouldn't matter. From what you've told me, your grandfather meant to make him for you, so why not be with him forever? You just need some time alone with him." Maria gets up fast and looks at Masako.

"I've been with Shadow a lot, earlier I snuggled with him. After he got wet and cold though, I was warming him up."

"But that was the only reason. Listen to my words, Maria. You need to spend time with him, for no reason to hide behind. Ok?" Maria is crying a little.

"But what if he doesn't love me. If I try anything, and fail, it would be too awkward to be around him."

"Trust me, he wants you to be near him. He's prolly just embarrassed, around the others. Now just look for an open spot, and shoot for it. I'm done talking now, it'll be fine ok?"

"Ok...it's fine." Maria leaves the bathroom and eats her sandwich.

"Get him Sonic!" Tails shouts from across the room. Sonic and Shadow are battling fiercely. Shadow gets a clean punch to Sonic's stomach. He recovers and spins right into Shadow, knocking him onto a wall. Shadow lands on his feet and launches himself off the wall at Sonic. He tries to hit Shadow but gets beat down.

"Ha, your pathetic. Here take the fake emerald. You need It more than I do." Shadow chucks it at Sonic and hits him in the arm.

"Ow...dammit man!" Sonic picks up the emerald and it flashes. Shadow is instantly knocked back a few feet, he's breathing hard. "How'd you like that!" Sonic vanishes but reappears with his foot held by Shadow, who proceeds to spin around very fast. He lets go of Sonic and sends him flying through the air. He instantly lands behind Shadow. The fake emerald glows blue for a second. "Sonic Wind!" A spinning blue energy saw hits Shadow and sends him across the room. Shadow is stunned, with the air knocked out of him. Then he starts breathing loudly.

"Holy crap, that hurt pretty bad. I've never had that happen to me before. If you fight like that, you'll be fine." Shadow sits down to rest. "But you'll never do this!" Shadow jumps up and glows brightly. Then wind emits from him in a golden blast. His black fur is replaced by pure platinum. Now he is just hovering there, smirking. Sonic has his eyes wide open. In an instant he vanishes. But Shadow punches the air in front of him, Sonic appears holding his stomach, and then he goes out cold.

"Sonic!" Tails runs over to him. "Oh...he's fine." Sonic wakes up after a couple of minutes. "You did pretty good against Shadow. I guess you need training after all, you still need to learn how to do that."

"Yeah...I guess. But...how?" Shadow goes back to normal and goes towards Sonic.

"That's why we have five days, your gonna work hard!" Shadow picks up his fake emerald.

Over the course of five days, Sonic learned most of the tricks that Shadow showed him. He can turn super for a little while too. Even Maria and Cilia mastered Chaos Control. They each made an energy attack, similar to chaos spear and sonic wind style attacks. Kaida trained with May to keep her out of trouble. Even Tails got some training with his powers and sword. Now it is the middle of the last day of training.

"Ready...GO!" May shouts this and the four hedgehogs use an energy attack.

"Chaos SPEAR!" Shadow launches this at one of the dummies that Tails had created. It instantly has a hole in it and is smoking.

"Sonic WIND!" His attack shreds the dummy to pieces. Almost nothing is left.

"Deadly ROSE!" Cilia points her hand towards the dummy and a violet energy vine shoots out and wraps around it. It blooms a black rose on the top. Then it squeezes the dummy until it breaks.

"Angel FEATHERS!" Maria does the same as Cilia. Many white energy feathers shoot out at the dummy making many holes in it. Maria then clasps her hands together and concentrates. Now she holds her hands out, towards the dummy. "Chaos HEAL!" Instantly it is fully repaired. No scratches or anything are there.

"Wow...That was awesome! This training really paid off." Tails proudly walks out of the room. "I'm going to check the cockpit, be right back."

"Good, now we don't need to be worried about you getting hurt." Shadow says to all of them. "If there is any trouble, just Chaos Control yourself to safety."

"Yeah, so just use it to keep yourselves safe." Sonic steps next to Shadow, but gets pushed back towards the girls.

"I meant you also."

"Hey...what do you mea-" Suddenly there is a shaking in the ship. Then the power goes out on the entire ship. "Who turned out the lights?" There is nothing but blackness. "If the power is out, We're gonna DIE!"

"Hey...let go of me..." BAM. Shadow hits someone in the head. "Stupid faker." In a second the emergency lights turn on. The lights are blue and go along the walls. "OH CRAP, I'm sorry Maria." Maria gets up and leaves. You can hear her sniffle.

"Looks like you made her cry, nice one buddy." Shadow tries to run after her, but mid run he comes off the ground and floats.

"WHOA!" Everyone shouts in unison.

"Krshhhh This is Tails, we just hit something...Big. The gravity is off, along with engines and major lights. Oh and the elevator is out too. Krshhhh" Tails said this over the radio.

"This is the worst time for this to happen. I need to find Maria." Shadow is stuck though, with no way to move. 'Ok, can't run...heheh...My shoes.' Shadow puts his feet back and puts his shoes into higher output, like jets. He is going down the hall pretty quick. As fast as a human running. He looks like hes moving like his super form, but much slower. He gets to the elevator. The doors are open, but the elevator isn't there. So Shadow just floats up to the bedroom floor. He makes it to Maria's room.

"Krshhhh The elevator is at the top of the shaft, if power comes back, the elevator will go to the bottom and back up again. So please stay where you are. I'm working on it from here, I got the fake emerald to power the computer. Krshhhh"

"Oops...too late for that. Maria? Please open up!" Maria lets Shadow in. "I'm so sorry I-" Maria puts a finger on Shadow's lips.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really sad. I faked it. I just want to talk with you." Maria closes her door. "Like when we talked back on ARK."

"Maria, Is that all. You could have just asked. I would've joined you."

"But you were training us. We needed It. I'm not selfish. I need to do something, close your eyes." Maria leans towards him. She hesitates, but suddenly kisses Shadow. Shadow is surprised that she did that. He blushes a lot. Maria has a slightly smaller blush than him. Before Maria says anything, Shadow kisses her back. "I know now..."

"Know what?" Shadow looks at her, puzzled.

"That I truly love you."

"I love you too." They just hold eachother while they float. They are upside down at the top of the room. Then the lights turn back on. They fall on the bed. Shadows head lands on Maria's chest. All the doors open in the entire ship. "Um...I-" Shadow is blushing even more.

"OH MY GOD...what are you doing?" Sonic shouts.

"Ahh...nothing, nothing." Shadow gets up quickly. "It's not what you think, blue boy. We were just talking."

"Well, I'll leave you two to your 'Talking'. Heheh." Sonic runs to the elevator.

"Grrr...Sonic is so immature!" Maria yells this.

"Hey, another thing we have in common."

"Krshhhh Ok everyone, the ship is good now. The thing we hit has somehow vanished. Krshhhh" Tails comes back down with Sonic. As Tails passes Shadow and Maria he blushes. "Uh-uh hi."

"That Idiot! Wait til' I get my hands on him." Shadow runs after Sonic. Maria looks at Tails.

"Thanks, nice diversion kid. Oh and don't believe Sonic, we just talked, and WE KISSED!" Maria is jumping up and down. "I'm gonna tell the girls."

"No problem, I'm going to the cockpit now, Meet in an hour. We're almost home."

An hour later...

"We're coming up to the Earth in 5...4...3...2...1..." As they get close enough, their mouths all open in fear. "Is...that the Earth!" Maria has tears in her eyes. "This isn't the Earth I remember..."

"Tails, what are those round things? And that barrier?" May is looking scared.

"If I'm not mistaken, they are-"

"Death Eggs." Sonic interrupts. "That Eggman! He's gone too far this time! I swear...If he did anything to Amy...I'll, I'll kill him!" Sonic has a burning rage in his eyes. He punches the wall hard enough to dent it. Shadow enters the cockpit now.

"Hmm...Seems the Doctor has been busy. He's finally taken over the world." Sonic turns around fiercely.

"NO, HE HASN'T...EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE!"

"What if he has...everybody is probably dead down there, we don't even know if the Earth is livable anymore." Shadow says this calmly.

"NOO...SHADOW YOUR WRONG. YOUR DAMN WRONG..." In an instant Sonic turns gold.

"Sonic, don't be stupid! Your not leaving!" Shadow grabs his shoulder. But Sonic hits him off. Shadow's hand hits the wall, hard enough to break it a little. "AHHH...My $! hand!" Then Sonic instantly vanishes. "Damn him!"

"Sonic!" Tails and May say in unison. They look back at Shadow, and sees he is hurt.

"Maria, heal him..." Tails is looking out the front window. _'Sonic, what are you doing. What if shadow is right, could they all be dead?'_


	13. Ch 13 Acception of Truth

Ch 13: Acception of Truth

Everything is silent on the Earth. Forests, cities, deserts, everything... The only sound is the wind, howling through the destruction. Many countries have tried fighting, but none have succeeded in quelling the Eggman Empire. They just don't have the technology to do it. A whole two months of terror. Now nothing is left but the few underground bases of G.U.N. and Angel Island. Even that isn't going to last long. Rouge is heading to the floating island for the last time.

"If I take the master emerald...I can save Knuckles' life, but then all those innocent people will die." She continues to fly towards the island. "I just don't know what to DO!" Rouge looks towards something.

Just then a golden light shoots across the horizon. Like a shooting star. It is Super Sonic, he is scanning the surface for any sign of life. He is just about to reach Station Square. Once there, he lands and begins running through the streets of rubble and smoke. Carefully keeping a lookout for a certain pink someone. He runs for a while, until he reaches Amy's apartment building. It is in terrible shape, the top three floors are blown off, and the front door is gone. The building that Sonic remembers, that was behind Amy's is gone completely. It was like it protected the apartment from total destruction.

Sonic enters the building and goes up two floors. He goes to Amy's door and knocks. The door opens on its own. "Amy?...Hey Ames!" There is no answer. "AMY!...AMY ROSE!" Still no answer. He walks into the kitchen. Nobody is there. He walks back towards the living room, and then goes up the stairs to the bedrooms. She always had three bedrooms, incase anyone visited. Sonic goes into her room. He looks at the faded pink everything, and notices something small and blue. It is a picture frame. A layer of dust is covering it, except for a blue spot is visible. Sonic wipes the dust off. It is a photo of him and Amy. In the photo, Sonic is in a beach chair. Amy is hugging him from behind. Sonic's face is surprised, and Amy is just smiling. "That's the day I taught her how to do my Homing Attack." Sonic closes his eyes. _(a/n I am explaining how Amy could do the attack, from Sa2:Battle)_

_**It was a sunny day on Emerald Coast. Nothing but fun in the sun. The days were peaceful again. It was two months after the city was almost completely destroyed by Chaos. Sonic was laying on a beach chair, sipping some soda. "Ahh...What a nice relaxing day, enjoying the sun, and the beautiful-AMY?" Amy was standing in front of Sonic. She was wearing a white tank top, and a red bikini was showing through it. She also had on a pair of pink camo shorts.**(Yes, pink camouflage, now anyway)_

_**"What was that? You just said I was beautiful? Oh my, you do love me after all!" Amy had her eyes closed. She was blushing.**_

_**"No, I was gonna say, beautiful Sky. What are you doing here?" Sonic got up and started walking. Amy followed.**_

_**"I just wanna hang out with you, even if it isn't romantic. Is THAT ok with you?"**_

_**"Sure, I guess, but only as friends. Ok?" Amy smiled and jumped up and down. Sonic looked around to avoid seeing her bounce. "Uh-ah...Hey, look at that seagull. It just got eaten by a fish!"**_

_**"What! Where!" Amy stopped and looked. Sonic pushed her into the water. "H-hey!" She was soaked. After a day of playing, they were pretty tired. Sonic and Amy are on the beach looking at the sunset.**_

_**"I had fun today, your a good friend Amy." Amy crawled up to him slowly. She leaned on his shoulder and whispered.**_

_**"We can be more than 'friends', If you let me get closer." Amy was about to kiss him, when he suddenly got up and moved away from her.**_

_**"I-i-i...Amy...look out!" Suddenly a missile was coming right for Amy. It was a black and white missile, with four rectangular fins at the end. Sonic jumped into the air and used a homing attack to destroy it. "Amy! Stand back!" The robot had finally showed up from across the beach. It was a beat up E-series robot, it was the modified E-101-Beta MX. "I thought Gamma had destroyed you!"**_

_**"Brzzzzzzaapppp...TARGET:ALL LIFE FORMS, OBJECTIVE: KILL!" It started to lock on to multiple people and things. It fired a barrage of missiles. Before the missiles could get far, Sonic blasted right through them with his light speed attack. The robot seemed to get really mad. So it started to charge up it's mega laser at Amy.**_

_**"AMY...Hit him before he fires!" Amy was too scared to move. Sonic jumped above the robot before it fired, and did a homing attack to it's head. It caused the robot to fire upwards at the sky as it fell down on its back, deactivating. The laser exploded into a large fiery orb. **_

_**"Wow...Sonic, That homing attack sure is useful. I seen you hit it so hard, are you all right?"**_

_**"Oh...that isn't such a hard technique, you could learn to do it, no problem."**_

_**"Really? You'll teach me? Ohhh...Thankyou so much!" After an hour...**_

_**"So basically it protects you from most things. Except pointy objects, laser or bullet fire, and explosions. That's it. Now show me what you got Ames."**_

_**"Ok...here goes." Amy jumped in the air, doing a few flips, and spun into the ground at an angle. She landed on her feet. "Oh my gosh, I did it, I DID IT!" She ran up to Sonic and kissed him on the lips(Like a plunger, Hehe).**_

_**"Congratulations Ames...I think, ugh."**_

Sonic is now smiling a little. "I was so happy to teach her that technique." As he studies the picture, something falls out from the back. Sonic looks at the thing, it is a piece of folded paper. He sees writing on it. Opening the paper, it reads:

'Dear diary,

Today would have been perfect, but alas, It was the same thing, different day. But I did get something good from it. Sonic's awesome Homing Attack. I'm so proud of myself. But I am also very sad. I was soooo close to kissing Sonic today, but he got scared again and backed away. It's like I'm not pretty to him, but in reality I am, I have had so many guys ask me out. Even a couple of humans wanted me to go out with them.(Eww) I wish he wasn't so scared of me, but for some reason he is, am I that scary to be around? Tails isn't scared of me, well, he isn't the one getting my attention. Maybe I should just stop hugging Sonic so much...Maybe I am too affectionate. I'll give him some space, maybe a year. Yeah, then he'll miss me. Wow, this diary page has too much information about me on it, I don't want anyone to know about this. I know, I'll hide it behind this picture, like I did with my diary key behind my Sonic photo, ok sorry diary, but your getting ripped...'

"Wow...maybe I'll find out more in her actual diary." Sonic is standing on the ground now, his super form faded already. He speeds around Amy's place, looking for her diary, and the picture that holds the key. "No...no...no...Hmm?" Sonic looks under an overturned table. "Aha...here it is." He finds the picture of himself. He taps it and a small key falls out of the back. It almost falls into an air duct, but he catches it.

"Now where is that diary?" Sonic is looking all over the place but doesn't find it. "I NEED THAT DAMN DIARY!" He yells at the top of his lungs. "If I don't get it, I don't know what I'll do."

Sonic sits on Amy's bed for a moment. "It can't be that obvious...Can It?" Sonic puts his hand under the first mattress. He feels something hard and square. He pulls out her diary. "Oh...My...God, I'm so stupid!" He quickly puts the key in the strap and opens it. "Ok...gotta get to the right date...Hmm...oh, this ones about Tails' broken leg...here I go."

'Friday, August 20th, 2001

Hello Diary,

Tails just got out of the hospital today, I'm happy for him, being stuck in there, while his friends go out looking for Eggman. I'm sure he knows how I feel now. Maybe he'll get Sonic to be nicer to me, I wish. But I hope they figure out what Eggman is up to soon, I have a terrible feeling.

Sunday, August 22nd, 2001

Hello...diary...

I have terrible news...Sonic is(tear stain). I loved him so much...why did he have to (more tear stains) Eggman has(tear stain) him. And Tails' too. (A lot of tear stains, covering most of the page) I can't believe it, but It's happened...Sonic and Tails are...Dead.'

"Wha-WHAT! But we're not...Eggman...EGGMAN! Damn that Ivo Robotnik!" Sonic reads some more.

'Monday, August 23rd, 2001

No time to talk,

Eggman is going crazy...there are hundreds of Mecha Sonics flying around destroying everything, I have to get out of Station Square...Knuckles told me to pack my essentials in one bag last night and be ready by morning. I told him I wanted to die, because I have nothing left to live for. But he wouldn't listen. Well, whatever, this diary is getting stupid now, I don't care about you anymore. Goodbye.'

"The rest is ripped out. That's bad. She would never act this way, Not my little Amy..." Sonic puts the diary on the floor. "Eggman said he killed us? He is the lowest, when I get my hands on him. No...don't get these thoughts now. He will pay, but not with his life. I need to head to Angel Island. But...how?"

"You won't need to, blue boy." Sonic turns around and sees Rouge. "Why are you here, and more Importantly, WHY WEREN'T YOU HERE!" Rouge is really mad. "Oh I get it, you were here, but you just don't care! Your supposed to be the hero, we all thought you were dead! But it was just a lie!"

"Rouge! What's wrong with you? I'm not faking my death!" Rouge slaps him.

"LIAR! Theres no way you were captured by that bumbling fatso. For this long, even. Shadow was more of a hero than you! He died with honor at least. But you! Nooo...you just up and leave!" Rouge just keeps attacking Sonic.

"Will you just LISTEN TO ME AND SHUT UP?" Sonic punches her in the face. It makes her bleed a little. Rouge is taken aback by this and stands there.

"Fine, I'll listen to your excuse, It better be good, too." She crosses her arms.

"Eggman, he did this, hes the enemy here. He had invented a machine on the ark, It transported Me and Tails to another planet. I couldn't get back because I was possessed by a demon. I know it sounds stupid, but its the truth. I just want to see Amy, please...Tell me shes okay."

"You don't want to know about that evil little girl."

"What do you mean by that! Don't insult her!"

"Hmm...It seems I was wrong about you, You do love her after all. I don't think you will love her after I tell you this."

"What are you talking about?"

"You may want to sit down, your not going to like this." Rouge points to a chair behind him. He doesn't move, rejecting her offer silently. "Ok, your choice." Rouge takes a deep breath. "Amy has...betrayed us. She joined Eggman!" Rouge says with a tear in her eye.

"Hahahaha...your joking right? Why would Amy, join the person that supposedly killed me? Seriously, tell me the truth."

"What is wrong with you? I swear to you I'm not lying! She is now part of the Eggman Empire!"

"WHAT! How could you let her do that! She can't be capable of that! You tell me I'm a bad hero, when you and that Knuckle head can't even stop her!" Sonic is about to hit her, but restrains himself. "Take me to knuckle-head, I have to have a word, or fist, with him."

"I can't." Sonic looks confused.

"Look, I'm not that heavy, If Tails can lift me, you can too."

"No...Knuckles...he got captured by Amy. I just got released from the Ark as well."

"Amy...'captured' Knux...HOW?"

"I dunno, some kind of sleeping pill was put into his drink, I thought he had just passed out. So I offered to take him to a G.U.N. hospital. Then something knocked me out when we were on the Tornado 2.5. I'm telling you, she used he mind to beat us. She is very Unpredictable now, and possibly dangerous."

"No...not her...Please tell me this is some sort of dream. Amy can't be evil...I don't care, just take me to the Ark then. I need to see Amy."

"I need to give the Master emerald to Eggman first. Or he will kill him. They have knuckles in a tube of reinforced glass. Eggman will drown knuckles in it, if I don't. And to make matters worse, If I do give it to him, Innocent people will die. We have a refuge on the island, many people are there."

"I have an Idea. Rouge, give me your communicator, I know you have one." Rouge takes something out of her suit. It is a heart shaped locket on a silver chain.

"Here, don't break it. It's my last one."

"Ok, follow me." Sonic runs outside in a blur. Rouge jumps out of the window, and sees Sonic outside in the street. "How high can you kick a ball?"

"Why? I dunno, like higher than a couple of skyscrapers."

"I'm going to jump into the air and curl up into a ball. I want you to send me into the sky. Just do it." Sonic jumps into the air and curls into a ball. Rouge jumps up and does a powerful backspin kick that sends him up like a bullet. As Sonic reaches a decent height, he uncurls and uses the Communicator on all the frequencies. He pushes the emergency call button on it. Then he pushes the talk button. "Hey Tails, Can you read me? Meet me in the ruins of Station Square. And tell Shadow I'm sorry about lashing out at him." Sonic starts falling back down to the ground. He starts a homing attack towards the ground. When Sonic lands, he makes a large crater. "Ha...that was easy. Now all we do is wait."

"For what?"

"You'll see...just wait." Sonic sits back and looks towards the sky.


	14. Ch 14 Back on the Earth

Ch 14: Back on the Earth

"Alert Alert! Engines are failing!" William is repeating over and over. Sirens and lights are going off in the Foxstar. "Alert Alert! Engine Three Off-line!"

"Oh No, were not gonna make it! The Foxstar's gonna be shredded if we continue!" Tails shouts over the alarms.

"Looks like we have no choice. I'm going out there!" Shadow gets up off the ground and heads towards the elevator.

"Shadow...NO!" Maria grabs his arm. "You can't, your hand is broken!"

"I have to! If I don't, the ship will be destroyed. Besides, once I'm super, it will heal." Maria lets Shadow go. He runs to the elevator and pushes the down button. Nothing happens. "Damn...I guess I'm going through it then." He jumps in the air and spins rapidly, then he blasts straight down, breaking through the floor. As he's falling, he heads towards the wall on the opposite side of the bottom doors. He lands on the wall with his feet. He then pushes himself off the wall and spins, right through the doors. Shadow reaches the engine room.

"Ok...I can do this." Shadow puts his hands on the glass cover and starts gathering the energy. The emeralds start glowing even brighter. They are pretty much pure white now. Shadow is now platinum. "Chaos Control!"

Once outside, Shadow heads toward the spot where the ship and barrier are contacting. There is a great electrical disturbance between them. It is moving very erratically. "The shields are getting weaker! Tails, it wont hold for long at this rate. It is at 40 already!" May is sitting at her post, watching the screen intently. "30...25...15...Now its in critical status! It'll break soon!" Suddenly something happens. "What! 30 again...50...90...It's past 100 now!"

"NO WAY! Are you serious!" Tails looks at the screen with an open mouth. "Holy crap...180 power!" Tails looks out the front window. "Look...It's Shadow!" Shadow is between the force fields. But one thing is different. He is rapidly changing colors and big sparkles are spinning around him. One hand is in the hyper field, and the other is in the Foxstar's shield. "I don't believe it...He's giving us power from the barrier!"

"We are now at 300 power! We can make it! Tails, go full power into the barrier!"

"I'm way ahead of ya!" The four engines are at full blast now. Engine three has been fully repaired too. "Darn, still not strong enough. I'm going to use the light speed drive! It's the only thing left we can try." Tails opens a glass covering to a red button. Once he presses it, the center propulsion starts spinning. A huge flare trail is behind the Foxstar. They are slowly going through the barrier. As soon as the end of the ship is almost all the way through, something makes a huge vibration in the back.

"Warning! Warning! All engines have lost power! Heavy damage has been taken on them!"

"What happened!" Tails yells at the computer.

"Engines 1-4 have been terminated. It seems as if they aren't there. The rear half of all engines are gone." William sounds worried.

"Oh no, the barrier must have cut them off! Everyone, get in a seat and put on the safety harness. This is gonna be a bumpy ride!" The ship begins to fall into Earth's gravitational field. On the outside of the ship, Shadow is losing power, fast. He uses Chaos Control to get back in the ship.

"I...I..couldn't stop the barrier...from-" Shadow sounds exhausted.

"We know...the engines are gone." The turbulence starts as the outside of the ship becomes really hot. A flame engulfs the ship as it gains velocity. The shaking is so great that Shadow hits a wall.

"Ahh!" Shadow quickly scrambles to a seat, and straps himself to it. "Will we explode if we hit the ground?"

"No...there isn't anything explosive on board. So the Impact won't kill us. But just to be safe, I'm putting the shields back up." Tails pushes a button and the energy shield is up again. Large metal panels cover the inside of the windows, and most of the computers get covered too. "Prepare for impact in 30 seconds! We still gotta see if Sonic is alright." The rumbling subsides, now that they are in the atmosphere. "He sent us a message, we need to get to Station Square." In a second there is a violent rumbling. The ship is shaking terribly.

In a grassy forest, two Metal Sonic copies are on patrol. They are in the dark, but have their infrared sensors on. "All lifeforms in this area are destroyed, over."

"Affirmative. Objective complete, over." Suddenly a loud roaring sound is overwhelming them. "WHAT IS THAT! RESPOND MS4322." To their east they pick up a huge object approaching at incredible velocity. The infrared sensors are completely white (that is the hottest color), so they are blind now. In a millisecond, the two robots are mowed down by a flaming spaceship, with energy shields on. The ship continues at high speeds through the forest, destroying everything it touches.

After about a couple miles, it starts slowing down a little. The Foxstar comes out into a clearing. There is a hill in the middle of it. It is covered with moss and rocks. The ship jumps the hill and flies a hundred feet and is above a lake. It crashes into the beach on the other side and goes into the sand a few feet. The nose is completely underground. Only the middle and end of the ship are showing above ground. Amazingly, the ship landed just beyond the water and the deep hole has barely any water in it. Only the ground water from the bottom is there.

The crew of the Foxstar are all unconscious. The cockpit is all dark with a few red lights and a few spots are sparking a little. Tails is laying from his chair to the computer terminal. Shadow and May are on the floor. Maria is sitting in her seat with her head hanging forward. The whole room is quiet and still. "Emergency systems activated." The computer activates a bunch of red lights and extra oxygen starts venting throughout the ship. On the deck below the cockpit, Kaida and Cilia are trapped in their rooms.

"What the hell! Why wont this door open? DAMMIT! Sudoken!" Kaida launches a fireball at the door, but it bounces of and ignites her bed. "Oh shi- Ryu Aquajutsu!" A small blast of water vapor hits the flame and puts it out.

Cilia is banging on her door trying to open it. "C'mon...OPEN! Grrr...It's no use...I'm trapped. Shadow...come save me!" She stops and thinks. _'What? Did I just say for Shadow to save me! B-but...I love Xero...at least, I think I do. Cilia...stop this nonsense, Shadow already has someone. It's Maria...I can't fall in love with someone that has already found love. It's settled, No more Shadow talk, or think.'_

"H-hey...Is everyone all right?" Tails is the first to wake up. He checks the room when he gets up. "Ow...my head hurts. May? Shadow? Maria?" Tails walks over to Maria and checks her pulse.

"Augh...T-tails?" Tails hears her call and walks toward her. May is trying to get up. Tails instinctively helps her up. "Thank you..." May gives him a hug.

"It's no problem, just glad your ok." They walk over to Shadow. May crouches over him. Her face is an inch from his. It looks like he's having a dream.

_Shadow is laying on his back in a field of grass. It is a nice warm day, birds are chirping and there is a cloud just covering the sun. Making it not too bright. It looks like he is in a valley surrounded by mountains._

_"Hey there." A female voice comes from behind him. Then Maria jumps on him. She has him pinned to the ground. "Heehee...I got you."_

_"Hey...ok, ok, you win. Unless I do this..." He gets one arm free and grabs her close to him. Their faces are almost touching._

"Shadow..." May whispers. Shadow mumbles something in his sleep. Suddenly he grabs May and kisses her passionately. Tails' jaw drops is shock. Mays eye's are wide and she is blushing. Shadow opens his eyes, then they widen. He breaks away fast. May just falls backward on her butt.

"Ahh...what are you doing! You-your not Maria! Ahh...Blegh..." Shadow spits on the floor.

"D-do all hedgehogs kiss like that!" May says this loudly. She's blushing a lot. "I know this is awkward, but that was...a good kiss!"

"May!" Tails manages to say is defense.

"I'm sorry Tails, heheh, but it was different...not in a bad way either. Don't feel bad...c'mere please." May has her arms open, waiting for a hug. "It was an honest mistake, he didn't mean to."

"Yeah...Look...I'm sorry...I'll just leave you alone. Man that was gross...like kissing fur...Yuk." May glares at him. Shadow runs to tend to Maria. After about an hour they are all talking, Shadow told Maria what had happened. She took it well. She even said it was cute. This made Shadow blush. "Yeah yeah, laugh at me guys." Shadow said sarcastically.

"Ok, aside from that, we need to get out of here. It looks like we can't use the doors or elevator. Or even the main hatch." They look at him with worried faces.

"Are we trapped in here forever."

"What? No of course not, May."

"Hey Tails..." Maria said softly. "We need to get even with Shadow and May." Maria lowers herself to his height. Then kisses him.

"Oh...My...God..." May and Shadow say in unison.

"That was..." Tails blushes a lot. "Good..."

"See I told you hedgehogs kissed good! Ok, so now were all even. Lets not forget who we love." May hugs Tails.

"Um...That isn't how hedgehogs kiss, It's just how adults kiss." Maria looks at them. Tails and May are both blushing. "Heehee..."

"AHEM...Lets get to business. Shall we?" Everyone looks at Shadow. He heads toward the deactivated elevator. "Chaos...Spear!" The small hole is big enough for everyone now. Not just for one hedgehog in ball form. "Okay Tails, lower the girls down to the living quarters deck. I'll go on ahead to destroy the door."

Shadow jumps down and you hear him yell, "Disappear!" After a moment they are all in the main room. It is a complete mess. The table and chairs and couch are all turned over and in one corner. Everything from the cupboards are spread throughout the room.

"Shh...listen." May has her finger over her mouth. Pounding can be heard from two spots. "It must be Kaida and Cilia! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, POUND THREE TIMES!" Three bangs happen from the spots. May runs to Kaida's room, and Maria is at Cilia's room. They try to open the doors, but it's no use.

"I'll do it!" Shadow charges up his chaos spear again. It fires and bounces off a door. "Well, crap. Tails? Can you open these doors?"

"I'll try. Crystal Sword, reach my hands." As soon as he says this a white light appears in his hand. It forms the shape of a sword. Then the white light shatters, leaving a sword in his hand. The blade of it is a white crystal shaped like a katana. The hilt is a medieval style that has a backward crescent moon shape with a rounded handle. At the end of the handle is a white orb with seven colored gems embedded in a perfect radius around it.

"It's been a while since you used it. Can you still wield it?" Shadow says jokingly. Tails just glares at him. "Of-of course you can, never mind."

"Okay, lets see if I can still use the powers silently." Suddenly his blade becomes engulfed in fire. "OK STAND BACK FROM YOUR DOORS!" Tails stabs through one of the doors and carves in a circular motion until there is a large hole in the door. The edges are still molten. Cilia jumps out of the door, but curses under breath when she touches the hot edge.

"I'm glad your all alive, and Shadow too." She gives him a thumbs up. Shadow glares at her weirdly.

After ten minutes Kaida is rescued and they make it to the engine room. The emeralds are all scattered on the floor. They must've fallen out in the impact. "Ok, everyone gets an emerald to keep secure." Shadow hands Tails the orange emerald. Maria gets the silver one. The light blue one for May, the dark blue to Kaida, the violet one to Cilia, and the red for himself. "That leaves the green one, for the Tornado3, right?" So he gives it to Tails. "Ok, we don't know what the Doctor has done to the world. There is probably very dangerous robots lurking around. So lets split up into two teams."

The teams are now set. Tails, Cilia, and Maria are on one team. Shadow, Kaida, and May are on the other. "I don't think I like this." May complained.

"It's fine, we got the best teams. There is nothing in the way. If the couples are together in a fight, it might make them unfocused. So I made sure to keep Tails and May separated, and Maria and I are separated. We can fight with 100 efficiency."

"Oh alright, I'll be thinking of ya Tails." This made Maria and Cilia say 'Aww , but Kaida slapped her face.

"If any one of you get in any trouble, just use chaos control. Now, lets go to the storage deck, and get out of here." The two teams followed Shadow. After a while they have the storage gate opened. Tails had to use the manual operation to open it. It opened up to the hole that the Foxstar made.

"Ok...Maria, Cilia, and I are going to the spot where I picked up on Sonic's last transmission. You all have compu-watches I made for this mission. It has maps of the entire Earth on it. And has communicators, I'll tell you important info as soon as I learn anything." Tails starts up the Tornado3. There is a long enough area in the hole to take off. "Oh, and my team is Alpha, yours is Beta. Ok? Good. Bye guys." Tails blew a kiss to May. She pretended to catch it. They take off and are gone.


	15. Ch 15: The Mission Starts

Ch 15: The Mission Starts

"So...how bad has it been here? All this time." Sonic stares at Rouge looking for an answer. She has her knees up to her face, hiding tears. Sonic looks away and stares at the destruction of Station Square. He is sitting on the road in between the station and Twinkle Park. They are now nothing but abandoned buildings now, they have major damage done to them, but are still in one piece. The station area is the farthest from the center of the city.

"What do you think? It's been horrible. Pretty much all the world leaders are dead, or gone into hiding. I just wanna end the senseless destruction. I can't do it alone. Please Sonic, you'll help me, won't you? Help me save Knuckles!" Sonic stood up fast and looked at her, grinning.

"Yeah, we'll get Knux back. You can count on it!" Sonic puts his thumb up in his classic pose. She laughs at him.

"Even in such a dire situation, your still the same. Hehehe, I can see why Amy loved you." Sonic's eyes widen in fear.

"Oh no...your not gonna start chasing me too, are you?" Sonic is about to run.

"Oh relax...I don't like you like that. Please...your too hyper, and not attractive enough to be with me."

"Oh really? Your highness Rouge, I can't be seen with your godlike beauty...I am but a peasant." They both start laughing. It is cut short when Rouge hears something. She looks up. Sonic notices and looks too. "What?"

"I think I hear something...Yeah it's getting louder. It sounds like an airplane...with jets."

"It must be Tails! Oh yeah, now were talking!"

"What if it's Amy? You might have to fight her." Rouge looks concerned. But Sonic is looking at the plane.

"Nah...It's an orange plane. I see three people on board too. HEY TAILS!!" He starts whistling loudly.

"Hey look...It's Sonic! Preparing to land!" Tails guides the plane to a clear piece of road. He makes it transform into the racer mode, and skids to a stop, inches from them. "Hey Sonic, I got your signal."

"I knew you'd pick it up. Ok I gotta plan, lets go." Rouge pushes Sonic away.

"Wait a minute, blue boy. We have 24 hours. More Importantly...Who are these two lovely ladies? My my Tails, your a little girl chaser, heehee." Tails turns red really fast.

"Uh...err..well." Tails stutters. "They're not..."

"It's okay, I won't tell anybody about your girlfriends." Maria steps out of the Tornado3.

"Um...were not his girlfriends. Hehe...my name is Maria, and this is Cilia." Maria bows to Rouge. Cilia just walks up to her and checks her out.

"Nice to meetcha, miss Amy. Wow Sonic, I didn't know you liked girls like THAT." Rouge just looks at her in Shock. "I thought you would at least stay with the same species."

"What do you mean by 'THAT' ?" Rouge glares at Cilia. "Besides, I'm not Amy, My name is Rouge!"

"Well Rouge, I just meant your too revealing. It's not decent for a proper lady to dress."

"Your just jealous of my superior body!" They are both growling at eachother.

"Hey, hey, HEY...We don't have time to fight! Knock it off!" Sonic is about to break them apart. He heard them both say 'sorry' underneath their breath. "Ok, now that Tails is here, wait. Where are the others?"

"They'll be here later, we got communicators...here, catch." Tails tosses him a watch.

"As I was saying, Tails is here. I need you to make a fake Master Emerald. I'm not asking too much, am I?"

"Well, I need to study it first. And I might need you to get materials."

"What do you mean, materials? I thought you made them out of nothing." Tails gives Sonic a weird look. "What?"

"Sometimes you worry me bro...Anyway, I need water, sand, and a device from my workshop, everything I have on me isn't strong enough."

"Ok, how long will it take to create?"

"Um...about two days."

"Oh no, we only have 24 hours...Knuckles will die before that." Rouge explains the situation. "So, then there's the problem."

"I know, you can work in chaos control time. Then It'll get done in no time." says Sonic.

"But, who can use it for that long?"

"Us three can. I'll go first, I just gotta keep contact with the island for a few days."

"Oh, like you can do that, you can't even stay still right now." Tails points to his legs. Sonic is rocking his legs back and forth.

"I'll do it. But I'll need all of your emeralds to keep me energized." Maria looks at them with determination.

"Ok, your much more stable than Sonic...Lets go everyone." They all head to the foggy island in the sky. Rouge is following beside the plane.

Meanwhile, In a thick forest...

"Shadow, are you SURE you know the way? I'm getting worried." May complains.

"Quit complaining, or I'll make you stop." Kaida glares at her from behind.

"Your so mean..."

"Your so annoying!"

"Will you two quit arguing?! I need to concentrate!" Shadow stops and stares at them. Then he continues in the forest. It is a pretty big forest, with almost no light shining through the tops. All the trees appear to be wintergreens and pine bushes. There are various logs and other fallen debris scattered around. As they walk, it gets darker and darker.

"Ok, I can't take this darkness any longer, I'm agreeing with May, you don't know where we are going. C'mon lets turn back...May. May? HEY...answer me when I'm talking to you!" Kaida is about to slap behind her. There's nothing there. "Oh no, she must've gotten lost. MAY!! OVER HERE!!" They wait a few minutes. Shadow grabs her arm.

"I smell something...It smells like, Exhaust." Shadow starts sniffing the air. He takes off his glove and licks his index finger. He puts it in the air. "There is a slight wind coming from behind us. Lets go." The smell gets stronger as they backtrack. Suddenly they stop at a huge square in the ground. "I wonder what this is for."

"I don't care what it is, I'm going in."

"Wait we don-" Kaida jumps in the hole. "Damn it." Shadow follows her down the hole. As they fall, it gradually gets more horizontal. The walls are made of light steel, like the kind they use for ventilation in big buildings. Shadow is balancing on his hover shoes to reduce friction, and it makes him go down faster. As soon as he catches up to Kaida, they exit the shaft at a 45 degree angle, and hit the floor.

"Oww, my head hurts. Maybe that wasn't such a good Idea."

"Ya think? Ok, where are we?" Shadow looks around. It appears to be a huge factory of some sort. The machines in the room are too big to see around.

"Well, last time I checked, I wasn't even **from** this planet! You tell me where we're at."

"Lets just look for May, she must be down here." They follow a metal walkway towards an open door with a green light above it. Once through the door, they find more huge machines. This room has a conveyer belt in the middle of it. It seems to be building something, but it is currently unknown.

"This place is interesting. I wonder what it's building?" She stares at the machines for a moment. "I bet you any money that May is following the belt, C'mon if we hurry, we might catch her." They both start running down the room towards door after door. After about three rooms, Shadow stops. "What are you doing?!"

"Look." Kaida stops and sees what is being built. Frames of robots are all lined up going down the belt. They appear to be slightly taller than Shadow. "Lets see the next room." In the room over, the robots get armor attached to their legs and arms. As they follow the belt something trips Kaida and Shadow, causing them to fall on eachother.

"You have FIVE seconds to get off me, Hedgehog." Shadow jumps to his feet.

"Hey, watch where you're going buddy! When I get my-SHADOW, KAIDA!!" They look up and see May on the floor. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave, but it was kinda, not my fault. This vent broke when I stepped on it." Kaida is about to hit her, when she pauses. "Hey, hey, It wasn't my fault I fell down here!"

"Ok ok, I'm not gonna hit you. What I really want to know is, what the hell kind of robots are they making here!" They continue into the next room, but stop when they hear talking. A robot and man are talking to each other.

"Ok, Metal, try out your armor now. I think I got all the bugs out of it. Just remember to let it cool down after thirty minutes, or else It'll malfunction again. At least I hope that happens, It's either that, or you'll blow up." Metal sonic flinches at the words 'blow up' and listens to him intently. The voice sounds like it is on a radio. May peeks through a rubber flap doorway and sees Metal Sonic standing in the middle of the room. This room is quite different than the others. The conveyer belt turns to the right and continues in another room. At the corner of the room, is a large circular teleporter.

"Affirmative...Proceeding to test, Hyper Alloy Mx 2 armor...hyperalloymx.exe, activate!" Suddenly, a bright glow surrounds his limbs and the back of his head. In an instant it shatters, showing new parts. His arms get wrist armor that has two long spikes going past his elbows. His feet have large thrusters on the rear, with a big wing on each. And his head has long spikes just like Mecha sonic(from Sonic3&Knuckles) Only one other thing is different. All the armor pieces are shining a brilliant golden color. Then he proceeds to power up even more. The factory begins to rumble slightly. His blue body becomes golden now, and the armor is shifting metallic colors at a rapid pace.

May lets out an audible gasp. Metal Sonic looks right at her with evil eyes. May backs into the others. She's trembling in fright. "Run..." She bolts for a previous room.

"What? Why?!" Kaida yells to her. Somebody pokes her on the shoulder. Kaida turns around and looks. She sees the glowing robot staring at her while hovering. "Uhhh...ehheheh...We were lost and...and...Your not buying that, are you?" Kaida screams and runs away. Metal is about to chase her, when Shadow appears in front of him.

"Your shiny armor doesn't scare me! Prepare to feel the power of the ulti-" BAM!! He punches Shadow with no effort. It sends him flying in the direction where the girls ran off to. He is going at mach speed through the air. Shadow spins in the air and lands on his feet, hovering. He's just sliding down the hall now. "Hmm...okay, I guess it DOES make him as strong as being in a hyper form." He starts running towards the girls now.

"Hey, did you stop him?" They both ask.

"No, he's coming right this way, I'm no match for him. Chaos Control!" Shadow says this in one breath. He grabs May and Kaida to bring them into Chaos time. "Ok, we have to find a place to hide. I'm sure he can sense us if we stay in the same spot." He pulls them by their hands. They head towards the supercharged foe. Shadow stops and tries kicking him, but he actually hurts his own foot. "Ow...he's hyper all right." They continue on towards the room where Metal was talking to Eggman.

After running for a while...

"I think...I think we should be safe here." Shadow says while breathing heavily. "Just don't make a sound." They are hiding in a small room. It looks like it could be a closet, or storage room, if it had anything in there. The room is made of steel, with no shelves or anything that seems important. "This room is odd." Shadow whispers.

"Tell me about it, there is nothing in here. Even though I can barely see." Kaida feels for a light switch in the air. She waves her hand in hopes of grabbing a chain. In the process, she hits Shadow in the face. "Definitely NOT a light switch." She sits back down.

After about an hour, Shadow decides to use chaos control to peek outside. He leaves the girls behind this time. After opening the door he looks both ways down the hall. '_Nothing here, good. That metallic monster isn't after us still. I wonder if he's still here._' He continues back to the room, and sits back in the same spot. "Ok, the coast is clear. Lets find a way out of here. This place gives me bad vibes."

"Ok, Lets go then." May says with fear. "I hate it here."


	16. Ch 16: Swallowed by Darkness

Ch 16: Swallowed by Darkness

In the central control room on the Space Colony Ark, Eggman is yelling at a bunch of his robots. He even destroyed a few with his mech. Only some scraps remain. He is angry about something. He yells until Amy approaches. She yawns for a long time and speaks up. "What's going...on?" She's still half asleep and yawns again.

"Oh...the yelling...Right...well. I received reports that something came through the barrier not long ago. I don't know what could have gotten through, but it was something big! And my stupid robots didn't get it on tape. It could be that thing from before. So we better be on the lookout."

"Oh...is that all. Well then...I'll be in my room then, sir. If you need me, just expect to see Metal, he can handle it."

"What exactly do you DO around here!"

"Excuse ME?!"

"Well, you did capture that bothersome echidna, but aside from that, you have been just LOAFING AROUND. If your going to pledge yourself to my Empire, You had better do more for my mission. Unless...your faking!!"

Amy stares at him with hate._ 'Did he figure me out? Or is he trying to trick me?'_ Amy steps forward angrily. "Are YOU accusing me of something?!"

"Those eyes of yours...full of hate...Frankly, I don't trust you anymore."

"Who are you to tell me what I'm feeling!! You have no Idea!! I'm Part of this Empire, and you better show some respect!!" In a split second Eggman charges his mech towards her. She prepares by making long katanas appear in each hand. "You just made a wrong move!" Amy slashes one of his hands off.(the mech hand, not his real hand)

"What...Are those things!! You never used to have swords." Eggman is kind of worried now.

"That isn't even all of my arsenal. I've aquired something powerful since Sonic died, no, murdered! And do you know what that is?"

"Uh...Uh...n-no?" Eggman is puzzled.

"A realization. A realization that I have much more power than I did when I was chasing him. Love, Happiness...It's for the weak! So now you know why. Unless you want to end up like your robotic hand. I suggest you leave me be from now on. I'll still help your empire, but on MY TERMS." She walks away.

"HEY...Metal Sonic detected life forms in the Mech Factory. It appears Shadow has returned." Amy turns around in disbelief.

"Didn't he burn up in the atmosphere? And die?" Amy just looks at Eggman.

"I want you to do another mission for me. Try to recruit him to the Eggman Empire. If he refuses, KILL HIM!! This should be a good punishment for your disobedience! They must still be in there. Go now!" Amy glares at him. "Please." Amy turns around and leaves on a teleport pad.

In a flash of light she appears in the room that Metal Sonic was using to power up in. "Dammit all to hell!! I hate that oversized buffoon! I swear, he is like a big child. I should've killed him right there!" She sighs and punches a wall. After a while, she starts walking around. "I bet he's just making it all up. Shadow is dead. Died saving this world. Sonic didn't even get that honor. When I get back, I will complete my mission." Amy continues to walk into the next room. _'Then I will be with Sonic again. I just really hope there is an afterlife.'_

Shadow suddenly sneezes loudly. "That's weird." Kaida and May smile.

"There is a saying: When a random sneeze happens, Somebody Is talking about you to someone. I bet It was Maria."

"Yeah." They both giggle at him. Causing him to blush. "She's probably saying stuff about you to Sonic, It's probably really embarrassing too." Shadow begins to blush even more. But May gets a little pink too. "What are you blushing for? May?"

"What's that sound? I think I hear a robot coming! Quick, you go that way and run. I'll catch up." Fear sets in and they start running. _'Phew, that was close. I don't believe them, stupid saying. But I do hear footsteps.'_ The footsteps get louder until they are a room away. The plastic room curtain opens revealing a figure. _'Oh...My...God.'_

"It's you." Shadow and Amy say simultaneously.

Sonic and Tails are at the Master Emerald altar, admiring the huge gem from a distance. Maria and Cilia approach and stare at it. "It's so Beautiful..." Maria takes a few steps closer to it. For some reason she has an urge to touch it. As she places her hand on the smooth surface of the emerald, a light flashes into her face. It is bluish in color. "Ahh..." The world fades to white in her eyes only.

Maria opens her eyes slowly. It is dark out and there are millions of stars out. When she looks down she sees raging flames around what looks to be the Master Emerald altar. There are a bunch of tribal echidnas in a group behind a really old echidna chief. "Get out of our way!" He said in a harsh scratchy tone.

"No! I won't." Said a small orange echidna girl. She looks a little over thirteen years of age.

"Those emeralds are needed for power. For our people, they are your people too. Now I'll ask again. Move aside!!"

"Once you have power, you will always want more. Greed is our enemy. Please I beg of you, turn back."

"Bah...I don't listen to the words of a child! Ready Men, Charge!!!"

"FATHERRR!!!!" In a blink of an eye they run for the altar. Trampling many chao and the girl in the process. She falls to the ground. Maria sees this and runs to the girl. She stands over her, watching. Maria looks up towards the altar. The men have the Master Emerald surrounded. With the chief in the middle. The seven chaos emeralds start revolving around the master. There is an energy flowing between each emerald and the Master Emerald. Right in front of the altar, a pool of water emerges from the cracks. A being made completely out of water starts forming from the puddle. You can see its brain inside its head.

"Ahhhhhhhhh...It's a MONSTER!!!" The creature lets out an eery roar. The emeralds become infused into the watery god, and a blinding light luminates the sky. After the light fades, the creature is behind the altar now. At least by fifty feet. It has transformed into a humongous beast. With the likeness of a crocodile, but with an elongated jaw and dorsal fins on its' head, going down its' neck. There are also two large tentacle like appendages waving about. The first thing it does is launch little fireballs that home in on every single soldier. Vaporizing them instantly. Then it looks off in the distance. Where a huge ancient city lies. Some kind of energy charges up in its' mouth. It unleashes a huge energy beam right at the center of the city. The pyramid at the center of the city gets completely destroyed at the bottom. Leaving it to crumble until only the top three levels remain.

"Uhhgg...No, NO!! This is terrible!!!" The echidna girl gets up and runs up to the altar. "The Seven Emeralds are the Servers, the Servers are Power, Power is enriched by the heart." She gasps for a second. "The emeralds can turn your thoughts into power! Please! I beg of you, Stop Chaos!" Suddenly a bright green light engulfs the land. Maria closes her eyes from the brightness. After about a minute, the light fades. Both the girl and the beast are gone.

"Why am I seeing this horrible scene?" Maria says loudly. Then suddenly something else happens. Seven cloaked people approach the smokey altar. They each pick up a chaos emerald. They all speak in a monotone voice. They vary in pitch, meaning some are female.

"Emeralds of Chaos, Show us the Emeralds of Power." Suddenly the Altar begins to rumble and shake. It splits apart slowly until the Master emerald is just hovering there. There is a green beam of light shining straight down into a huge hole. Each person holds up a chaos emerald, and a colored light shines up through the hole. Each robed being steps into their light. They hover for a second, and then they all flash white, and are teleported downwards. The Master Emerald slowly descends into the hole. But just before it leaves Marias sight, a green light launches towards her and hits her. In a flash of bright colors she is in a completely different place.

"Oww, what am I sitting on?" Maria looks down at a half sphere embedded in the ground. It is like a big red marble of glass. The floor around it is very shiny and glass like. As she looks around, she notices that she is in the center of the room. Maria runs to an area beyond the light and watches the robed people. There are weird floating flowers, seven to be exact. They have no stems, but are full bloomed. The Master Emerald finally arrives in the weird room. It lands on a bigger flower in the center. Once it lands, it crystallizes the flower with green shards.

"Emeralds of Power, show thyselves." They say with force. On each of the smaller flowers, a large emerald appears. Not as large as the master emerald, but still too big to carry. "Grant us a wish, save this world from all the terrible destruction that has plagued us. This war torn world is on a path of destruction. Only more accidents will happen as more races and civilizations strive for the emeralds." As if the emeralds were alive, they glowed brightly, responding to their voices. "Yes, we wish to bring the world back to a restored state. Revive the fallen, rebuild the cities and land...and...LOCK THE MEMORIES OF ALL BEINGS...to the point when the emeralds were still a secret." Again the emeralds glowed fast(almost like they were chattering amongst themselves.) "We are sure, do what must be done to prevent anyone from finding this place." One last glowing happened. "A-a guardian!? Ok we will choose two of us to live on this land and create a family of guardians." Two robed people stepped forward and took off their hoods. They were both pure red echidnas. One male, and one female. You could tell by their fists.

Suddenly Maria feels something pull her up. She flies away from the scene, away from the planet. Then nothing but blackness remained. "Maria...Maria...Maria!!" She opens her eyes slowly. The world is a little blurry. She sees a blue blob on front of her.

"S-sonic? Wha-where am I?" Maria sits up and looks around.

"Phew...We thought you'd never wake up. It's been like, twenty minutes." Sonic and Tails are standing in front of her. Then suddenly someone tackle-hugs her.

"I thought you'd never come back!!" Cilia has her head buried into her shoulder. "Your my best friend, I don't know what I'd do without you!!"

"Really, I'm ok. I'm right here. Shh." Maria comforts her by petting her head. Cilia pulls away after she realized everyone was staring at her.

"What? I was worried about her." Cilia's face turns red from embarrassment. "Maybe I was too worried. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm glad I have such nice friends. But I had this weirdest dream. I was here, but I think it was the past. Such an awful event took place. I saw this huge water monster-"

"WHAT!?" Sonic and Tails shout.

"That was no monster, that was Chaos, the god of the chao. We only saw dreams like that when something terrible was happening." Tails walks to the emerald. "He was trapped in the Master emerald for thousands of years, until Eggman released him to destroy Station Square. After Supersonic stopped Chaos, he left to another realm."

"I also saw something after the big water-Chaos, left. There were these robed people, they said something, and then the alter opened up, and revealed a hidden area. I saw these huge emeralds, bigger than the chaos emeralds!" Sonic and Tails look at each other in shock.

"The Super Emeralds..." Sonic said softly. Rouge suddenly covered her mouth with her hand. "Rouge, what's the matter?"

"Um, I kept this to myself until now. When Eggman first attacked, we went to fight, and left the Island unguarded. When we returned, a Metal Sonic copy was trying to take the master emerald. Only after we defeated it, we realized something was wrong. There was smoke coming from the volcano, MT. Red. Knuckles told me the Hidden Palace was in the mountain somewhere. I forget how we got there, but the Super emeralds were gone!"

"This just keeps getting better! We gotta hurry and get the master emerald fake finished. C'mon and start already!" In a few minutes, they were all prepared. Sonic places three emeralds around where Maria is sitting. She has one emerald in her hand. Tails has a rope around his leg, and it is attached to Marias leg too.

"This'll only feel like a half hour to you guys. Be back when were done. Ok Maria, NOW!"

"Chaos Control!" In a split second Tails vanishes. But they can see Maria. She looks like a ghost, but she has a blur around her. The half hour passes and they appear like nothing happened. Now there are two Master emeralds. The fake is not as bright as the real one. "I-I feel dizzy...need water..." Sonic instantly hands her a glass of water. She downs it in one gulp. "Thank you Shadow."

"I'm Sonic! Wow you must be tired after two days in Chaos time."

" I think we can pull this off. Knuckles is as good as safe now." Sonic heads over to Tails.

"This time there wont be any mistakes, Last time we tried something like this, I almost gotten you killed. Just you and Rouge will go to the Ark." Sonic acts surprised. "What?"

"Wow, this is the first time you ever passed up an adventure with your bro. I guess your thinking about May right now, I understand, Go and protect her." Tails nods once. "Ok Rouge, lets head up to the Ark." Rouge touches the fake Master Emerald, and shrinks it to fit in her hand.

"Bye Everyone, root for us!" With that, they were off. Everyone waves goodbye, as they fly off into the mist.


	17. Ch 17: What happened to that girl?

Ch 17: What happened to that girl?

"It's you!!" Shadow and Amy say in unison. They stare at eachother for a couple of moments. Amy approaches him slowly.

"I have come with a proposal for you." Bewildered, Shadow nods.

"What is this proposal you speak of?" Amy pulls out a card and tosses it on the floor. It looks to be made out of steel. The sides open and it begins to hover. A hologram of Eggman appears.

"Hoohoohoo...Why hello there Shadow, Long time since we worked together. You have to tell me how you survived that nasty fall. Hehehe...Anyway, I would be greatly pleased if you would join me for World Domination! If your interested, just follow Miss Rose to the Ark." The card closes up and falls to the ground.

"And If I refuse." Shadow stares at Amy.

"Then I am to kill you." She looks at him with those void-like eyes.

"What happened to you?" Amy laughs in an evil way.

"Nothing "happened" to me. Now answer me, yes or no?"

"...no..." Shadow says calmly, and proceeds to walk away. _'Who does she think I am? How pathetic.'_ Shadow stops suddenly when he feels a blade touching his neck. He takes a step back, to avoid decapitating himself. "Ok, I guess I'm not leaving."

"I would suggest you rethink your answer." She holds a katana close to his neck. "Yes or no?...YES or NO?!"

"Didn't you once beg me to help save the world? What happened to that girl?"

"I killed her."

"Hmm...pathetic."

"What did you say?!"

"Just because you think the one you loved died, doesn't make it right to act this way." Amy is about to finish him off, but hesitates. "You only have one mans word that Sonic is dead. Your pretty stupid to believe someone like him." Amy kicks Shadow in the back, and throws him to the wall.

"You don't know ANYTHING!!!! How I felt, when I heard the news, that the only person I truly loved, was dead! He will pay for what he did to him...just as soon as I get closer to him."

"Oh...I get it now! Your plotting to kill the Doctor, aren't you?" Shadow walks toward the door.

"Your not going anywhere, Shadow! I have to kill you! You refused."

"Fine...I accept the offer. Take me to the Ark." Amy leads Shadow to the teleporter machine.

"Ok its this Wahhh-" Amy falls to the ground, unconscious.

"I'm sorry, but Sonic would kill me if I let you get hurt." Shadow steps on the teleporter pad and vanishes. Off in the other direction, Kaida and May are still running.

"May...stop running, nothings chasing us!" May turns around and looks at Kaida. "I think Shadow ditched us."

"He has some nerve, Lets go back."

"No, I think we're almost out of here, look up ahead." There is a sign saying "North Exit Hangar" on the wall.

"Oh, that was easy!" They both run into the huge empty hangar. There are many huge chains with hooks hanging from the ceiling. In the center of the room, a huge door can be seen, obviously leading out. "Now it's time to see if I can get us out of here!" May activates her tech-cloth by tapping her shoulder. It slides from under her clothes, and wraps over them. "I'm glad Tails reprogrammed this thing. Now I can wear clothes underneath it."

"Just hurry up and break the door down." May gets in a battle position. She runs at sub-sonic speed towards the door. On her way towards the door, she picks up a pole from the ground, jumps up in the air and spins sideways at high rpms (rotations per second). She hits the ground with the pole, causing sparks to heat the tip of it. In a second, May slams into the door with the hot tipped pole, it goes into the door with ease. She lands on top of the pole, balancing like a bird. She starts spinning on it like a gymnast. Going faster and faster by the second.

"Wow, I think she can actually break through, finally she's learning to use her head." Kaida thinks about how much May has grown. _'Ever since she met Tails, she has gotten smarter. More reliable and trustworthy, even dare I say, more mature...I'm proud of you May, my little sis.'_ A tear runs down her cheek.

Finally after all that spinning, the door gets wedged open just enough for a person to get through. May jams the pipe between the doors, to keep them open. "HA...That was easy." They both run through the long tunnel, until they start to see daylight. Even though the light is reddish and dark. Once out in the open they look around. It appears to be a beach of some sort. "Wait...this place looks familiar."

"No...It can't be...we're..." Kaida looks up and down the beach. Her jaws shakes a little. "BACK IN THE SAME PLACE!!!!! Ok we are NOT walking anymore. Call your boyfriend, or else!"

"And that's why we need a ride, ok Tails, thanks, I love ya." May puts her arm down and looks at Kaida. "That's embarrassing, but I wonder where Shadow went? Any Ideas?" May sees that Kaida is sleeping and covers her mouth. _'I should let her sleep until Tails picks us up.'_

After what seemed like an hour, a small buzzing is heard. It keeps getting louder and louder. There is a small screeching sound of a plane landing. The engine gets cut after a few seconds. May gets up off of Kaida and yawns, she looks over and sees Tails in the T3(tornado 3). She jumps up and runs over towards him. She has Tails in a death hug. "I-I-I Missed you too...can't b-breath-th..."

"Oops, sorry. Hey KAIDA, TIME TO GO!!"

"Ok..." says a distant voice. After they get in, Tails starts up the engine.

"So, you have no Idea where Shadow went?" Tails asks worriedly. Tails turns on his communicator. "Come in Shadow, where are you?" There's nothing but fuzz on his channel. "Well, he can take care of himself. I wanna stop by my workshop guys, Is that ok?"

"Oh you mean your house, I'd love to see it!"

"Well, I just hope it didn't get destroyed. Let's go." Tails pushes the throttle forward and they take off. They are almost out of sight of the beach. In the dark tunnel, glowing red eyes are all over the place. They seem to be marching. There are a few that seem to be on the walls. One blue robot emerges from the darkness. It is a Mecha sonic copy. Only one major difference is visible. It has a big gun on its arm. Over a hundred march out of the tunnel. The ones that were walking on the walls drop down. These robots are very different from the others. It is green and has four arms. It uses the arms to walk on walls/anything. It has a big mouth with razor sharp teeth, and it has only one eye.

"Targets:Verified: All living beings. Processing... ... ... Exterminate!" Each and every one of the robots repeats that and flies off. They scatter randomly.

Back on Angel Island...

"Just look around...Isn't this place nice!" Maria and Cilia are walking around the island, taking in its natural beauty. "Look there! At the giant mushrooms...Oh My God...They're huge." Cilia is really excited. She runs over to one of them. She is about to take a piece of it off.

"Hey! Don't break it. It is a living thing, you know!" Maria stops her just in time. "You can't just take a piece of nature, You could kill a plant that way."

"I-I Im sorry...I didn't mean to sniff h-hurt it. I'm a bad person...I don't deserve happiness..." Cilia begins to cry silently.

"Huh...N-nooo...Your not a bad person! I know your good...I was just warning you not to." Maria grabs her shoulder. Cilia turns around fast.

"I think I like Shadow!" Cilia shouts suddenly. Maria looks at her, confused.

"Shadow is likeable, I like him too." Maria smiles. "That doesn't make you bad." Cilia twitches her eye and falls.

"That's not wha-YES, he is likeable. I thought only you could like him...but yeah he is cool. I guess." Cilia turns around and starts walking towards a wreckage. 'Phew...That was a close one, I almost had an awkward moment there...Note to self...stop getting emotional and letting it make you crazy.' She walks a few more feet and falls into a hole. "AHH!"

"Cilia! Careful!" Maria runs over to the hole. "Are you alri-eek!" The ground beneath her rumbles and breaks. She falls into the same hole. "Oww...huh?" She taps the floor...it makes a clinking sound. "It's metal, why would there be a metal floor in the middle of a forest.

"How should I know? But it hurts like hell!" They get up and dust themselves off. And proceed to investigate the place.

Somewhere in the skies near the Mystic Ruins...

"So...how much longer til' we get to your place?" Asks Kaida.

"Bout' two minutes. I'm gonna have to land on dirt again, because I don't have remote access to my garage." Tails shouts behind him. They come in above his workshop, he banks to the left and does a wide circle of the place. They are now facing the runway, but It's not open now. "Car mode activated..." The T3 reverts back into racer mode, there is a violent jolt as they hit the ground.

"Oww!" Both the girls shout.

"Land like that one more time, see what HAPPENS!!" Kaida threatens him with a shaking fist. They all hop out of the car and look around.

"Wow...your house looks so cool!" May shouts and there is an echo. "It smells musty though."

"That's because of all the machinery. My garage probably needs a cleaning." They walk around the left side of the house. The machinery that is on the outside of the house isn't moving. "Great...The gears have stopped moving."

"What does that mean to us?" Kaida asks in an irritated tone.

"Means no power, that's what. May...follow me, I might need your help." They walk down the first set of stairs and turn left, onto the steppe. It has a fence on the edge of the cliff. They go all the way to the edge. "I'm gonna hold your legs, I want you to look down at the waterfall and tell me what you see."

" 'M'kay." Tails holds her by the legs on the ground. He leans back to counter balance the weight. May is on her stomach looking over the edge. "Ok...hold it there. I see the waterfall...and what looks like a door made of steel...and-wait...why does it have two tails on it?"

"Because that's my logo, heh!"

"Ok...I also see a waterwheel that isn't moving." Tails lifts her back up rapidly "WHOA!!" Tails lets go of her and flies down to the broken wheel. After a what seemed like forever he flies back up. Tails is all wet and dirty, and smells like oil.

"Ok I fixed it, the wheel is turning somewhat. The water seems weak though, c'mon." They run down the large stairs leading to the station. Following the boarded walkway they reach a pond. "Wow, I don't remember the water being this high. I need to go under and find what's blocking the water flow."

"I think I'll wait here...I don't wanna get wet in a gross pond. There's algae all over it." She is right about the pond. It has algae and lilypads all over the surface. Tails walks over to the edge of the boarded river and jumps in the cold water. While under the water, he sees a bunch of rocks blocking the river just enough to let a trickle through. Tails concentrates on the rocks. In a matter of moments the rocks rumble and go under the riverbed. But as soon as he did that he gets sucked through the hole.

"Ahh...crap! Help..." Tails is going with the fast moving river and goes over the falls. As he's falling he spins his tails the other way and starts going up. It looks like he is sitting on his tails.

"Tails...are you o-okay? I heard you yell for help!" May comes running and goes to hug him, but stops. "Eww...I don't wanna hug you now."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Tails looks at her, perplexed.

"You need a bath, your so dirty, especially on your back, theres weird green gunk." She grabs his arm and runs toward his house.

"Yeah, It smells too. But, there should be power and water now." When they arrive at the workshop, the gears are spinning and lights are on upstairs. Kaida appears to be gone as well. "I guess Kaida found her way in, heh." Tails enters the hangar with May. There is a spiral staircase made of metal.

"Hey guys...my GOD, what the hell is that...Smell!!?" Tails raises his hand with his head down. Kaida looks at him, disgustedly. "Your gonna take a bath, right?" Tails nods and takes off towards another stairway right in the middle of the small livingroom/kitchen. The room isn't that big. Kaida is just laying on the couch near the front door. May sneaks up the stairs and heads straight to the bathroom door. She knocks twice.

"Yeah?"

"I-I wanted to k-know if...know if..." May stutters. she has a little blush in her cheeks.

"It's ok to ask...c'mon."

"I w-wanna wash your back...please?" May's more embarrassed now.

"Ok...I can't really reach that Yuk well..."

May walks in and Tails is sitting in a half barrel tub. Covered in suds. She just grabs a washcloth and dips it in the water. "Lean forward please." Tails does. There is a little awkward silence between them, but its not bad, they both have a little embarrassed smile on their faces.


End file.
